Gov. Chris Christie will not run for president

'New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me,' Christie says Watch video

TRENTON — He's not running, and he says he means it this time.

At a jammed Statehouse news conference, Gov. Chris Christie announced today that he would not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

"Now is not my time," Christie said. "I've been adamant about the fact I would not run for President," he said. "My job in New Jersey is my passion.

"New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

His statement came after a week of relentless speculation, set off by a high-profile speech at the Reagan Presidential Library and intensified by an acknowledgement from advisers that he was reconsidering a candidacy after a year of refusals.

Christie, who has earned the adoration of both mainstream Republicans and the more conservative Tea Party wing, was viewed by some pundits and strategists as the best chance the party had to vote President Obama out of office.

But after looking at an uphill climb with an abbreviated amount of time to set up a vast campaign network and two frontrunners already established, the 49-year-old Christie decided that his time to seek the presidency had not yet arrived.

The uphill battle wouldn't have suffered from a lack of funds, at least initially. Wealthy donors from New York and other parts of the country had been pledging their support for months and offered to spend millions of dollars on a potential campaign. But Christie would still have had to organize a ground game, including staff members and volunteers in such early primary states as Iowa and New Hampshire.

A lack of enthusiasm for the current field of Republicans fed the renewed plea for a Christie candidacy, especially after one of the frontrunners, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, stumbled badly in a recent debate.

The leading candidate, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, has also failed thus far to generate excitement in the party, though there is a general agreement that his campaign performances have improved. There is also a crowded second tier that includes two members of Congress, Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas; Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, and Herman Cain, a former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza whose polls numbers have improved in recent days.

Christie, a first-term governor who has served for less than two years, had been insisting for the last year that he would not run, frequently saying that in his heart he knew the time was not right. He once jokingly suggested that he would have to commit suicide to convince people to stop asking him to run.

But the steady stream of denials took a turn after his appearance at the Reagan library last Tuesday night, where he lashed out at President Obama in a lackluster speech, but charmed the audience with his rough-and-tumble Jersey Guy persona — as he often does at his town hall meetings — during a question-and-answer session. Several members of the audience asked him to run, and unlike the many previous instances, he stopped short of saying he wouldn't.

Christie remained silent after his appearance, but various people close to him told members of the press that he was seriously reconsidering his options. Then last Thursday during a fundraising trip to Louisiana, he appeared alongside a fellow Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, and stoked speculation by once again criticizing President Obama's performance.

“If you’re looking for leadership in America you’re not going to find it in the Oval Office,” Christie said.

After returning to New Jersey, he appeared at an event in Sea Girt on Sunday but ignored questions shouted by a crowd of reporters. At a judicial swearing-in ceremony on Monday he made a fleeting reference to the decision before him.

"I came in here today with a number of things on my mind, and then my mind was completely clear, for I walked in here and saw you sitting at counsel table," Christie told Superior Court Judge Donna Galluccio.

"You can become intoxicated by that smoke," he added. "And you can wind up, as the smoke gets thicker and thicker, losing your way. Losing that inner compass that we all hope remains true to who we are and what our role is in whatever position or authority we hold. I am confident that no matter what smoke is blown from this counsel table up towards Donna on the bench that she will not lose her sense of self."

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