Will Christie Run? We'll Know Today

Will NJ Gov. Chris Christie make a run for president? The bets are in if he'll make a bid and political observers expect the answer today.

Gov. Chris Christie has scheduled a press conference in Trenton for 1 p.m. Tuesday, with speculation building that he will announce whether he is launching a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

(Late Tuesday morning news agencies, including Patch, reported that the governor has decided against running for president).

In Livingston, residents wondered if he's changed his mind since last June when he sat in the Livingston High School gym and said he’s “100 percent certain I’m not going to run” for President in 2012

Christie graduated from LHS in 1980 and returned to the school for a CNN interview, telling : “I wouldn’t want to say, ‘I know I can win. I hope I am ready. I’d rather say, ‘I know I am ready. I hope I can win.'”

He has since been under intense pressure from some within the Republican Party who are not satisfied with the current group of candidates. Numerous stories in the past week have claimed that he is reconsidering.

The governor needs to decide within the next few days, because the deadline is approaching for him to file as a candidate in several key GOP primaries, including South Carolina and Florida. Both of those states moved their primaries up to January and New Hampshire and Iowa are expected to follow suit, leaving only three months of campaigning before the start of the actual delegate selection process.

If Christie does decide to run, he will not have to step down as governor. His term in office does not expire until 2013, so if he loses the presidential race, he could still run for re-election.