Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, who's said he'd like to be John McCain's running mate, won't be joining at least three other Republicans mentioned as ticket possibilities at McCain's Arizona retreat this weekend, his daughter said Thursday.
Huckabee, who abandoned his presidential bid in March, will instead be traveling and celebrating his 34th wedding anniversary with his wife, said Sarah Huckabee, his daughter and executive director of his political action committee.
Huckabee was among those invited to a Memorial Day weekend retreat at McCain's retreat in Sedona, Ariz., she said.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, another McCain rival in the primary, were invited to a weekend gathering at the senator's place.
Aides to the Arizona senator have said more than two dozen people were invited for the social event and that it's not intended for vetting potential running mates.
Sarah Huckabee said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that her father will support whoever McCain picks as his running mate and that the decision is ultimately up to McCain.
The former governor dropped out of the race in March after McCain secured the delegates necessary to win the Republican Party's presidential nomination. Huckabee has since formed a PAC to help support other Republican candidates, including McCain.
"There's no one I would rather be on a ticket with than John McCain," Huckabee said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "All during the campaign when I was his rival, not a running mate, there was no one who was more complimentary of him publicly and privately. ... I still wanted to win, but if I couldn't, John McCain was always the guy I would have supported and have now supported."
McCain said more than a month ago that he was in the "embryonic stages" of selecting a running mate for the fall campaign.