A Michigan student with the Navy ROTC got a personal message Thursday from Jeb Bush.

The former Florida governor met the student's mother at a dinner event in Bath Township, Michigan.

She told Bush her daughter, Chelsea, really wanted to be at his speech, but she was recently sent out to sea on a U.S. submarine, where women have only recently been allowed to work.

Bush decided to leave her a voicemail message instead:

Hi, Chelsea, this is Jeb Bush. I'm at the Lincoln Date dinner with your mama, and she is sorry that you are not here.

I appreciate your service to the country — Go Blue — and I hope you're enjoying the training exercise off the coast of Nova Scotia. Take care.

The Republican former governor may be walking and talking like a presidential candidate, but he's still not officially running. Bush is expected to make that announcement sometime this summer.

Election 2016

View the potential playing field in the race for the White House