An anonymous reader delivered a tip yesterday that former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is set to endorse State Rep. David Grimes in the Republican primary for the 2nd Congressional District.

According to the source, Grimes missed the House vote on a Democratic proposal to overturn a ban on “double-dipping” last week because he was in meetings about the endorsement.

Reached today at his office, Grimes didn’t comment directly on the possibility of an impending endorsement, but he did nothing to tamp down the rumor.

“I have been in contact with him,” Grimes said. “I have had communication with Mike Huckabee, and he has indicated that he is very much in favor of my views and what I do in the political arena. I have not been told by Huckabee that I’m going to get his endorsement, but I hope to get some positive feedback in coming days.”

Although he supported Mitt Romney in the primary and doesn’t agree with Huckabee on illegal immigration, “I would love the endorsement of Mike Huckabee,” Grimes said.

Huckabee won Alabama’s Republican primary on Super Tuesday, garnering 41 percent of the vote to John McCain’s 37 percent. Romney finished third with 18 percent. 

As for Thursday, Grimes said that he had been at the House in the morning and that his “plans were not immovable when I went in for the morning session.” He checked the afternoon schedule before deciding to go ahead with his meetings out of town. HB 787 was added to the calendar only after the afternoon session began, Grimes said; by then, he was too far out of town to make it back in time to vote, and although he would have voted against the bill, “one vote wouldn’t have mattered” because it passed 57-36.

So, what about those meetings? 

“I had some personal business, I had some meetings in the afternoon,” Grimes said. “And, you know, I meet with a lot of people. Huckabee would be a great one to meet with; so would Romney.

“I would seek the endorsement of anybody with a name that two people know about,” he said. “I’m in the nickel seats on this whole thing because I don’t have the personal cash to spend on the campaign. Everyone else is spending their own money.”

An assistant at the offices of Huck PAC would say only that Huckabee had not endorsed a candidate in Alabama. He referred questions about Grimes to the PAC’s director, who has not yet returned my call.

Huckabee split the 16 counties in the 2nd Congressional District evenly with McCain. See the breakdown here.

Check back for updates to this story and the rest of Grimes’ comments about the congressional race.