The Hill News

Rick Santorum met with top Iowa social conservative Rick Vander Plaats on Friday.

"I did have a chance to meet with him. We talked about a lot of things and he basically talked about the process that they were going through. It was more of a process discussion," Santorum said Wednesday to reporters according to The Des Moines Register.

Vander Plaats is the executive of The Family Leader and has recently said that his group of social conservatives had narrowed down their choices for an endorsement to fo! ur candidates: Santorum, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann.

Vander Plaats is perhaps the best known conservative in the early primary state and an endorsement from his group would be a coup for any candidate seeking to win over evangelical voters â€"a group Santorum has been hoping to attract early on in his presidential run.

Santorum's meeting with the head of The Family Leader came the same day he received the endorsement of Matt Schultz, Iowa's sitting Secretary of State.