It appears to be a three-way tie in the Mike Lee presidential primary. At a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington Friday morning, the Republican and first-term senator from Utah spoke glowingly about his “three best friends” in the Senate who are or are preparing to run for president: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio. Lee wouldn’t say which candidate he preferred, though he seemed particularly laudatory of Rubio.

Ted Cruz has been Lee’s partner-in-crime during the duo’s efforts in the Senate to defund Obamacare and block funding for President Obama’s immigration executive order, and he says he shares “a lot in common” with the Texan on ideology. “I like his passion and I like his dedication to conservative principles and his willingness to fight, even when it’s hard,” said Lee. But he also questioned whether Cruz would be able to appeal to voters outside his core group of supporters.