MANCHESTER, NH -- Former two-term New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson officially dropped out of the Republican race for the White House today to run for the Libertarian Party's nomination.

Johnson said he's "deeply disappointed" by the GOP in a process he deemed "not fair." His campaign first announced the shift last week.

"Frankly, I have been deeply disappointed by the treatment I received in the Republican nomination process," Johnson said at his announcement in Sante Fe. "The process was not fair and open."

Johnson is the first major candidate to run as a third-party candidate. His jump comes after serving as New Mexico governor as a Republican from 1995 to 2003 and months of campaigning in New Hampshire, where he was unable to rise above low single digits in state-wide polls. Johnson was famous for criss-crossing the state on his bicycle and hosting a town hall meeting in Concord -- to which no one showed up.

Nationally, Johnson has been known for supporting the legalization of marijuana. Unlike most of his GOP counterparts, he also supports gay marriage and abortion rights.

As a libertarian-minded candidate, Johnson often had a difficult time escaping the shadow of the more popular Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who champions similar positions as Johnson. Paul has told NBC News he has no intentions of running as a third-party candidate, but did not completely rule it out if he is unsuccessful in his Republican bid.

Johnson said Paul's potential failure to win the GOP nomination was part of his own calculus to run as a Libertarian.

"While Ron Paul is a good man and a libertarian who I proudly endorsed in 2008, there is no guarantee he will be the Republican nominee," Johnson said.

Johnson said moving to the Libertarian Party was "both a difficult decision -- and an easy one."

"I have a lot of Republican history and a lot of Republican supporters. But in the final analysis ... I am a Libertarian -- that is someone who is fiscally very conservative but holds freedom-based positions on the issues that govern our personal behavior," he explained.

If Johnson wins the Libertarian Party's nomination, his name would appear on the general election ballot in all 50 states.

PETERBOROUGH, NH -- After dodging the question twice in two days, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman appeared to shut the door on running as a third-party candidate for president, if he doesn't become the Republican presidential nominee.

"I'm not running as an independent. I'm not running as an independent," Huntsman told reporters after a town hall meeting this morning. "I don't know how many times I have to say that."

This is the first time Huntsman appeared to completely rule out a run outside the Republican Party, and it's his most definitive answer to date. Previously, the former ambassador to China seemed to leave the option open, saying he was running in the GOP and planned to win the Republican nomination.
 
"I've been a lifelong Republican. I expect to be the nominee, and that's how we are going to resolve it," Huntsman said, ducking the question in Londonderry on Friday evening.

Huntsman also tried to play down news that his former campaign manager Susie Wiles endorsed Mitt Romney today.

"That's all political gamesmanship," Huntsman said when asked about Wiles' jump.

Huntsman also lost a key New Hampshire supporter Robert Brothers last night, to which Huntsman said, "Oh, we are picking up people all the time. That's how politics goes sometimes."

BEDFORD, N.H. -- Scoring one of the last major endorsements in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney announced Saturday night that he has been endorsed by Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas with exactly one month to go until the first-in-the-nation primary.

Gatsas, who leads the state's largest city and has served as the state Senate president, said Romney's electability was a deciding factor.

“After spending 25 years in the private sector as a successful businessman, Mitt knows how to balance budgets, fix broken enterprises and create jobs. He is also the strongest Republican candidate with the best organization to take on President Obama in 2012,” Gatsas said in a statement to NBC News.

“I am also impressed with the time and effort that he has invested in New Hampshire,” Gatsas added.

Gatsas, who endorsed John McCain in 2008 over Romney, will appear with the former Massachusetts governor on Monday morning at Manchester's Chez Vachon restaurant, a frequented stop on the New Hampshire campaign trail.

Romney also recently cemented the support of Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Rep. Charlie Bass and state Senate President Peter Bragdon -- and he has won a majority of key local endorsements.

"As a successful entrepreneur, Ted understands the challenges facing small business owners, and he has supported pro-growth policies tha twill help them create jobs,” said Romney. “I am proud to have earned Ted’s support."

Gatsas was reelected as mayor in a landslide in November. Before assuming public office, he co-founded Staffing Network, a company that became one of New England's largest employers. Gatsas has said publicly that he is considering a run for New Hampshire governor, to be vacated next year by Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat.

With the New Hampshire primary four weeks away, most of the major GOP endorsements have been snapped up. Two major players remain unaffiliated: Congressman Frank Guinta and state House Speaker Bill O'Brien.

O'Brien is widely expected to back another House speaker -- Newt Gingrich. Guinta recently told NBC News that he has whittled his list down to Romney, Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum.

New Hampshire voters go to the polls Jan. 10.

GOFFSTOWN, PLYMOUTH, and DURHAM, NH -- Just days after Mitt Romney's New Jersey surrogate, Gov. Chris Christie, hit the road for Romney in Iowa, another New Jersey leader, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, yesterday campaigned for President Obama here in New Hampshire, where he criticized of Romney's oft-cited "private sector experience" and issued a few jabs at Christie himself.

"I like to punish people with facts," Booker told students at University of New Hampshire on Friday. "The other side often tries to distract you from the facts. Look at Mitt Romney's first ad! Blatant lies. You can't let people get away with that."

Booker, seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, questioned the flagship credential of Romney's campaign: business and private-sector experience.

“There is no natural correlation between private sector business experience and how you’re going to do,” Booker told reporters in Plymouth.

“Unfortunately New Jersey is seeing that right now with the private-sector business experience of our former governor and the challenges that he’s facing right now,” Booker added, citing former New Jersey Gov. and Sen. Jon Corzine (D), who has found himself in the epicenter of a controversy surrounding MF Global, a brokerage firm. “Is it the private -ector business experience of a Bernie Madoff?”

“Now, I’m not comparing Romney to those folks with all due respect," Booker said. "But I'm saying to you if you look at the presidents we all respect: Abraham Lincoln was a failure at business, was one of our greatest presidents. FDR didn't have private-sector business experience, but did a great job. John F. Kennedy was a phenomenal president that didn't have business experience. Those are false arguments. The reality is who has the better plan for the United States of America."

The Newark mayor, who has been considering a run for Senate and New Jersey governor, also jabbed his state's chief executive, Gov. Christie. Booker joked with students in Durham, "There's a very shy governor of my state -– you probably haven't heard of him because he's very soft spoken."

"My governor is a very pugilistic man, and he's up here punching at my president like crazy, saying outrageous stuff," Booker added. "I can't believe.. that the president is an 'appeaser.' I'm going to keep punishing people with the facts."

The Romney campaign was quick to respond to Booker's comments.

"The Obama Campaign’s decision to deploy a top surrogate to disparage private sector experience is insulting to New Hampshire small business owners and reminds voters of how out of touch this Administration is," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in response to Booker's comments.

Booker did not stop at Romney. He bluntly criticized the entire Republican presidential field.

"Most of them don't even believe in global warming. The other side doesn't believe that we should have expanded Pell grants," he said at Plymouth State University. "The other side doesn't believe that we should have greater equal rights for all Americans. The other side is attacking things that would help the middle class like having a payroll tax cut.

At each stop, Booker implored students and voters across New Hampshire to get out and fight against a "state of sedentary agitation" that he sees in the United States. He admitted Obama's health-care plan "was not perfect," but reminded voters that "change" required a sustained effort and a second term for Obama. His three-stop tour of Saint Anselm College, Plymouth State University, and University of New Hampshire was an effort to help win back young voters Obama may have lost during his first term.

"But I'm not just here to say vote for this guy," Booker said. "This is a state where we need people to get more organized, more involved. Wherever this state goes, it could take the whole country as well. The leadership in this state is critical in the coming months."

CONCORD, N.H. -- With polls showing Newt Gingrich surging ahead as the first candidate to be within 20 points of Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, Romney is kicking his campaign in the Granite State into high gear, as he hopes to close the deal a month out from the primary.

The former Massachusetts governor's campaign is blanketing the state's 10 counties with its first endorsement-focused mailer. According to the campaign, Sen. Kelly Ayotte -- who recently endorsed Romney -- and her husband will be featured prominently on one side of the all the literature. On the flip side, Romney will appear in a photograph with a Republican leader from each respective county, including sheriffs, state representatives and executive councilors. The postcard is expected to land in mailboxes this week. (Here's the mailer.)

Romney worked with hundreds of volunteers and knock on doors last Saturday in Manchester. The campaign said the volunteers also made thousands of phone calls as part of an effort that Romney hopes will demonstrate he is not taking his support for granted this cycle.

"Our campaign has spent months recruiting and building a strong grassroots organization," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. "In the final weeks, we intend to activate our grassroots network in order to ensure Gov. Romney wins the primary. Our grassroots is second to none in New Hampshire."

On Sunday, Romney returns to the Granite State to take questions from New Hampshire voters in a town hall-style meeting at the Hudson VFW as part of conservative activist Jennifer Horn's final event in the "We the People Freedom Forum" candidate series.

The mailer and town hall come in the midst of Romney's on-air blitz, featuring a new ad, "Leader," airing across the state.

Meanwhile, other presidential campaigns are also doubling down in the final stretch to the Jan. 10 primary. Jon Huntsman will participate in a town-hall meeting in Milford Thursday evening. Gingrich returns to New Hampshire on Monday for a town hall and Lincoln-Douglas style debate with Huntsman, along with an editorial board meeting with the Nashua Telegraph.

Manchester NH -— With the future of his campaign in question, Herman Cain did not rule out leaving the race, saying once again he will “reassess and reevaluate” the impact of recent events on his family, his campaign strategy and fundraising for “another few days.” Cain indicated he will make his final decision on the campaign when he sees his wife face-to-face this Friday.

“There’s some people who thought that I was finished but I’m going to leave it with Yogi Berra’s comment, ‘It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!’ And it ain’t over yet,” Cain bellowed to volunteers into his tightly-packed New Hampshire headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Yet just minutes later at a press conference, Cain did not explicitly rule out dropping out of the race for the GOP nomination, calling the accusations against him “character assassinations.” Cain has been accused by four women of inappropriate sexual misconduct. Ginger White is the fifth to come forward.

“We are going to reevaluate,” Cain said, after a one-day bus tour in Ohio today. “We had a strategy up until last weekend, we might reprioritize.”

Cain admitted he has not yet spoken to his wife Gloria face-to-face about the most recent allegations of a 13-year extramarital affair by Georgia-based Ginger White. Cain said he has spoken to his wife by phone.

“I have discussed this with my wife many times since Monday,” he told reporters. “She’s doing great.”

Cain also plans to discuss the future of the campaign with her when he returns home to Atlanta on Friday. As of now, the Georgia businessman plans to unveil the third pillar of his major policies, his energy plan, but did say much depended on his conversation with his wife this weekend.

In the aftermath of the allegation by White, Cain also conceded that cash flow to the campaign has slowed down significantly.

“A few of our warm weather supporters have gotten off the Cain train,” he told voters, before quickly adding that fundraising in the last few days is “picking up.”

The former pizza magnate also emphasized that this reassessment was “not a knee-jerk” reaction to the recent sexual allegations against him. However, he declined to comment on how this recent spate of news has caused his campaign to publicly reevaluate his position in the GOP race for the first time since entering.

Cain continues his New Hampshire visit tomorrow afternoon with a meeting with the Union Leader newspaper editorial team, despite the fact they endorsed Newt Gingrich on Sunday. It will be broadcast C-SPAN.

Nashua, N.H. -- Rick Santorum may be stuck in the low single digits in New Hampshire polls, but the former senator from Pennsylvania got a boost from a key social conservative on Tuesday. Santorum won the support of activist and former GOP candidate for governor, Karen Testerman.

Testerman -- who previously served as a senior adviser to Rep. Michele Bachmann -- told NBC News by phone she had carefully considered each candidate before settling on Santorum. She served as the Minnesota Congresswoman's communications aide during a controversial staff disbanding in New Hampshire this fall.

"I think [Bachmann] is falling off the charts basically, much to many people's disappointment," Testerman told The Dartmouth earlier this month.

This week, Testerman narrowed her selection to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Just two days ago, she hosted a campaign event that bore witness to a heated but civil debate between Santorum and a voter on abortion and conception. Today, with just 6 weeks left before the January 10 New Hampshire primary, Testerman threw her support behind a candidate many see as the underdog -- a far cry from Gingrich, who won the influential endorsement of New Hampshire's largest paper, the Union Leader.

Nevertheless, Santorum is thrilled about any support he can get in a state where he receives 1% support, according to a recent survey by University of New Hampshire and WMUR.

“Karen has been a steadfast defender of life, family and the foundational values that make our nation great," Santorum told NBC News in a statement. "Karen understands the magnitude of this election, and her vote of confidence tonight is truly an honor.  I am excited to work with her as we move toward victory in the first-in-the-nation primary.”

Santorum returns to New Hampshire December 2-3 to campaign with Testerman and other state legislative endorsers.

CONCORD, N.H. -- In between campaign stops in New Hampshire today, Huntsman said that the latest "bimbo eruptions" surrounding rival Herman Cain have damaged the quality of the GOP race for the White House. The former Utah governor suggested the former pizza CEO should consider leaving the race for the Republican nomination.

“We’ve got real issues to talk about not the latest bimbo eruption,” Huntsman told the Boston Herald editorial board today. He went on to imply that the recent allegation of a 13-year extra-marital affair created “too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth.”

Watching the allegations unfold last night on the news from his hotel in New Hampshire, Huntsman told the Globe he asked himself, “‘What about a (financial) downgrade that is being anticipated? What about Europe? What about so many other issues out there that we ought to be talking about and that people ought to understand where candidates come down on those issues?’”

Huntsman, who as of late has seen a minor uptick in Granite State polls, implied that given the combination of sexual allegations and distractions from policy discussions, Cain should consider dropping out of the race. Typically, Huntsman rarely mentions his rivals by name on the campaign trail.

“Given the bandwidth that has been taken out of the discussion of any other issues pertinent to this campaign, a reconsideration might be in order," he told the Boston Globe at a separate editorial meeting.

“Every time another accusation comes up, it diminishes our ability to stay focused on the issues that really do matter for the American people. And I think that’s a disservice to the voters," he told the Globe.

Huntsman declined to take questions on the issue at his campaign stop this evening in Concord.

By NBC's Jo Ling Kent

Merrimack NH--On Monday evening, a visibly energized Jon Huntsman zeroed in on New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney and attacked him sharply, in a state where the former Utah governor has staked his entire presidential campaign.

With just 43 days left until the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary, Huntsman questioned Romney's ability to shake up Washington and Wall Street as president.

"Anyone who is in the hip pocket of Wall Street because of all the donations they are picking up, like Mr. Romney, is in these days is not going to be the change agent who is going to fix the too big to fail banking system," Huntsman told about 80 voters at a town hall-style meeting. This was his 110th public campaign stop in New Hampshire.

Huntsman also attempted to downplay the recent string of New Hampshire congressional endorsements Romney has received. Last week, the former Massachusetts governor won the support of Senator Kelly Ayotte and Rep. Charlie Bass, two of the three Republicans in the Granite State congressional delegation.

"You should be wary of any candidate who carries the endorsements of every member of Congress, because it means they're going to be a status quo president," Huntsman said.

At the same time, Huntsman said over the weekend that he is courting newspaper editorial board endorsements across the state, north to south. Yesterday Newt Gingrich received the influential support of the New Hampshire Union Leader, an endorsement that was not expected to go to Huntsman.

The former ambassador to China, who is currently polling at 8 percent in New Hampshire, also presented his own plan to shake up Washington: impose a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of Congress, tie salaries to performance, and impose term limits.

Huntsman vowed to cut the salaries of members of Congress "until they balance the damn budget."

In the final stretch to the January 10 primary, Huntsman says he is "jubilant" about where he stands among the candidates despite his single digit support.

"I want a sustained rise that is not fickle," Huntsman said, accompanied by his wife Mary Kaye. "You have to lay a substantive ground work here in NH...I don't want 15 minutes of fame."

Huntsman wraps up this campaign swing Thursday and will travel to South Carolina on Friday for more town hall meetings this weekend.

BEDFORD AND CONCORD, NH -- Ron Paul on Tuesday said he sees the Republican Party as a vehicle with which to get elected -- but not as a party or a structure that he fully supports.

The Texas congressman's position came in answer to a voter's question about why he participates in the two-party system, rather than running as an independent or third-party presidential candidate.

"You probably wouldn't even know my name if I had done this in a third party. I would have never been elected to the Congress," he said today at Enviro-Tote, a reusable cloth bag manufacturer. "Think of the parties as a vehicle for getting the message out and getting elected."

Paul went on to criticize the current format of national elections, saying: "It would be nice" to have a multi-party system. But Paul conceded his run as a third-party candidate would be "very, very difficult," given the Democratic and Republican parties' overwhleming roles in scheduling debates and other election matters.

Today, Paul said he has no plans to run as a third party candidate. But in late October, he refused to rule out that possibility. "I have no intention of doing it," Paul told CNN. "Nobody has particularly asked me to do it, and they know what I'm doing and I have no plans whatsoever to do it."

Paul ran for president as a libertarian in the 1988 election and as a Republican in 2008. And in his third bid for the White House, Paul's campaign says it has attracted more mainstream Republican support than it has in the past.

"You do your best with it and work with it," Paul said. "To me the only things that counts are attitudes. Prevailing attitudes. Understanding economics. How you understand liberty. What kind of foreign policy you want. That's what really counts."

MANCHESTER NH -- The Huntsman campaign has lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. The cash-strapped one-state operation will be seeing more of its candidate's face on the air -- thanks to a holiday television ad buy from the pro-Huntsman Our Destiny PAC.

According to a source familiar with the ad buy, Our Destiny PAC spent $650,000 to run television ads on broadcast and cable stations across New Hampshire from November 24 to 27. Another source puts the buy's size at $671,000.

The ad the Super PAC will air is the same "Someone" spot that debuted earlier this month, featuring actors' testimonials on the economy followed by a bold, flashy list of Huntsman's credentials. The spot will air in 30-second and 60-second variations.

This is the second ad buy by Our Destiny, a super PAC that is believed to be funded in part by the former Utah governor's billionaire father. Earlier this month, Huntsman told reporters he had not spoken to his father about advertising or the PAC.

"Anything from the outside that serves to bolster our efforts in New Hampshire, I am mighty grateful for," Huntsman said after a town hall meeting in Portsmouth.

The question remains how effective this advertising is for Huntsman, who remains in single digits here in New Hampshire. In today's New Hampshire Suffolk University/7News poll, Huntsman received support from just 9% of likely Republican primary voters, whereas Mitt Romney leads with 41%.

These numbers have not stopped Huntsman from barnstorming the state in the final seven weeks of campaigning, hoping to scoop up support from the wide swath of undecided voters. Huntsman has held more than 105 events in the Granite State, and many of the stops are populated with handfuls of curious undecided voters still searching for a candidate to back. The campaign says it's seizing on the opportunity to win over independents, and in step with that strategy, it has planned an aggressive town hall schedule this weekend across New Hampshire. The first-in-the-nation primary is Jan. 10.

Tonight's GOP debate on foreign policy and national security is also another opportunity for Huntsman to break out into more public view. Huntsman -- who has served as ambassador to China and Singapore -- has by far the lengthiest foreign policy resume of the field.

"Gov. Huntsman will demonstrate he has unique, deep foreign policy experience and distinguish his view of the United States' role in the world from the others on stage," spokesman Tim Miller told NBC News.