Michele Bachmann endorses Mitt Romney on Thursday

It turns out that Mitt Romney will receive an endorsement this week from a former Republican presidential opponent after all — it just won't be Newt Gingrich, as many had speculated.

When Gingrich officially ended his presidential campaign Wednesday, he stopped short of endorsing Romney. Instead, Romney's new endorsement comes Thursday from Rep. Michele Bachmann during a campaign stop in Virginia.

CBS News reported Wednesday evening, "Former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., plans to endorse the party's presumptive nominee Mitt Romney at a campaign event in Portsmouth, Va., on Thursday, Romney campaign officials say." The Virginian-Pilot revealed Bachmann's announcement will come "at the 1:15 p.m. (EST) event at Crofton Industries."

MSNBC political reporters Jamie Novogrod and Garrett Haake think the Bachmann endorsement could prove to be a big boon for Team Romney.

"The news comes at the tail end of a string of endorsements secured by Romney in recent weeks," Novogrod and Haaze wrote. "… But Bachmann’s endorsement may represent another kind of victory for Romney, who has tried for months to woo support from the same tea party Republicans who found a hero in Bachmann last summer."