Washington — Gov. Sonny Perdue endorsed Sen. John McCain Monday, bypassing the candidate he most closely resembles politically, Mike Huckabee, for the last remaining Republican presidential challenger who could win in November.

In addition to this endorsement, Perdue and other top Georgia Republicans will host a fundraiser for McCain Thursday at the Westin Buckhead.

Perdue is one of six governors who endorsed McCain today. The group's jump into McCain's camp marks the latest shift of the nation's Republican leadership to the Arizona Senator, despite conservative resistance to McCain, who is viewed as more moderate than Huckabee.

Perdue appeared with Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi. The two made the case that McCain is already the nominee.

"It's time to remove the presumptive label from in front of the nominee," Perdue said." John McCain can be the man who can unite this party and lead us to victory."

Before Georgia's primary Feb. 5, Perdue had spoken highly of Huckabee, although he refrained from endorsing any candidate at that time.

On Monday he said of Huckabee: "The fact is, unfortunately for him, that he won't be the nominee." But he said he won't urge Huckabee to drop out of the race.

The Georgia fundraiser for McCain will be co-hosted by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. He, like Perdue, did not endorse a candidate prior to the state's Feb. 5 election.

A Cagle spokeswoman told the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Friday that the state's number two Republican was now endorsing McCain.

"John McCain has led an exemplary life of service and sacrifice and is best qualified to courageously lead our nation," Cagle said in a statement to the AJC. "I am proud to support him as our next president."

Notably absent from the list of co-hosts for this week's $1,000-a-plate reception are a number of Georgia's Republican congressmen who endorsed other candidates. They include U.S. Reps. Jack Kingston and Lynn Westmoreland, both of whom endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Other top GOP officials who endorsed someone other than McCain are on Thursday's host committee, including U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey and Tom Price, both of whom endorsed Romney. Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), who endorsed McCain after first-choice Rudy Giuliani dropped out, is also among those welcoming McCain to town.