TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie suspended his campaign for president Wednesday, ending his quest to become the first New Jerseyan to win the White House since Woodrow Wilson a century ago.

The governor had a meeting with staff in Morristown where he thanked them for their support and told them his plans to suspended the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. The decision to drop out came after the governor's lackluster showing in the New Hampshire primary.

Christie arrived at the Morristown headquarters shortly after 4 p.m. to inform staffers and volunteers of his decision, Christie campaign spokeswoman Nicole Sizemore confirmed.

Sizemore said Christie didn't indicated whether he will endorse anyone in the GOP presidential race. She also declined to immediately provide an estimate of how much campaign cash Christie's campaign had left.

A source familiar with the governor's afternoon address told NJ Advance Media that Christie said he wanted to thank staffers personally for all they'd done, particularly with such modest funding, to help draw the distinction between the role played by U.S. senators and the governors in the 2016 race.

"I have both won elections that I was supposed to lose and I've lost elections I was supposed to win and what that means is you never know what will happen. That is both the magic and the mystery of politics -- you never quite know when which is going to happen, even when you think you do," Christie said in a statement.

"And so today, I leave the race without an ounce of regret. I'm so proud of the campaign we ran, the people that ran it with me and all those who gave us their support and confidence along the way," he said. "Mary Pat and I thank you for the extraordinary display of loyalty, friendship, understanding and love."

The decision caps a more than seven-month presidential campaign that always hinged on the pugnacious Republican governor making a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary. He officially announced his presidential bid on June 30, saying, "I am now ready to fight for the people of the United States of America."

But for Christie, a one-time favorite of the GOP to lead Republicans to the White House, his presidential hopes were rocked by the George Washington Bridge lane closure controversy. The scandal, which a former Port Authority employee would later admit to federal prosecutors was a scheme of political revenge, destabilized Christie's path to the Republican nomination.

"By last spring he was completely counted out and left on the side of the road," longtime Christie confidant Bill Palatucci said Wednesday evening.

"By the force of his personality and his own wit and his ability, he forced himself back into this race. But the clock ran out on us," he said. "But I'm very proud of what he was accomplishing with very little help and very little resources."

Palatucci added: "No candidate worked harder than Chris Christie over the past of seven or eight months."

Christie said Tuesday night after a lackluster showing in the New Hampshire primary that he was holding off on plans to fly to South Carolina, which holds the next primary and where the next GOP debate is scheduled for Saturday. Instead, he said he planned to return with his family to New Jersey to wait and decide whether to continue in the race for the Republican nomination.

"We have work to do. This is going to be incredibly close," Christie told his supporters at a campaign headquarters in Bedford, N.H.

Despite the optimism, Christie supporters had reasons for concern.

Low polls numbers in the state where Christie has staked his presidential campaign have dogged the governor for weeks in the lead-up to the primary. Christie, who finished near the back of the GOP pack in the Iowa caucuses, needed a strong showing here to survive the long haul, political observers agreed.

Christie's campaign got a bump in the polls over the summer and again in November after the editorial board of the state's largest newspaper endorsed him. But the good times were short-lived as Bush and Kasich overtook him in the lead-up to the New Hampshire primary.

According to a poll released last week, Christie lost two-thirds of his support in the first primary state over the last month. Christie was in sixth place with 6 percent in a Monmouth University Poll released on Sunday.

Christie spent more than 70 days campaigning in New Hampshire, hosting 76 town halls and 180 public events in his quest to be president. His ads have been aired here more than 1,800 times, according to a Boston Globe survey.

More money had been spent against Christie than any other candidate by super PACs aligned with Republican presidential hopefuls. The groups spent $5.2 million against Christie through Saturday, according to Federal Election Commission reports tallied by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.

Only Cruz, winner of the Iowa caucuses, was hit almost as hard, with $5 million spent against him.

With his bid for the White House behind him, Christie has a little less than two years left as governor of New Jersey.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.