Gary Johnson's place on the New Hampshire ballot cost him 50% more than it should have.

The filing fee in the Granite State is $1,000, but after an embarrassing misstep by his campaign yesterday -- failing to file by proxy on the last day it could do so -- the former New Mexico governor hopped on a $500 one-way flight to get from Arizona to New Hampshire to file in person.

“As the first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire is an important focus for our campaign,” Johnson said said in a statement this morning. “I’ve spent a lot of time in New Hampshire -- even biking across it -- and look forward to continuing to take my message to the voters of this great State.”

The longshot candidate even rented a home in the state.

*** UPDATE *** More from NBC's Jo Kent in Concord: At the filing today, Johnson said, "I shouldn't be here right now, meaning I was not intending to be here in person. I was intending for this to be filed beforehand. If anybody is responsible I guess it's me."

Johnson's procrastination did not entirely work against him. By filing 45 minutes before Rick Perry, he was greeted by a full court of press awaiting the Texas governor.

"You got the right person? I'm Gary Johnson not Rick Perry," he joked to the crush of cameras.

This is not the first time a candidate has nearly missed New Hampshire's deadline after campaigning in the Granite State. In the 2004 cycle, Dennis Kucinich flew from Washington to Concord to file in person on the final day after his campaign realized they were not allowed by state law to register on his behalf, according to Gardner. Kucinich was serving in Congress at the time.

This afternoon, Johnson flies back to Arizona to continue his three-day swing there.

*** UPDATE *** Gary Johnson -- who failed to file by proxy today while he was campaigning in Arizona -- is taking a red eye to New Hampshire and will file in person first thing in the morning at the State House in Concord.

"The technical term is that we screwed up," Johnson's communications director Joe Hunter told NBC by phone last night.

CONCORD, N.H. -- Longshot presidential candidate Gary Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico, likely will not be on the ballot for the New Hampshire Republican primary, all but ending any chance he could have had at the nomination.

Despite a significant amount of time spent in the state, including biking hundreds of miles with his fiancée and son to draw attention to his campaign -- and even renting a home in the state, the staunch libertarian missed the deadline to file by mail or representative, which was today at 4:30 pm ET. Johnson is campaigning in Arizona through the weekend and, according to a spokesman, has no plans to be in New Hampshire tomorrow.

The missed deadline comes as a surprise not just to political watchers, but also the Johnson campaign itself.

"The last I heard it was going to be filed today by a representative," said Joe Hunter, Johnson’s communications director, sounding shocked, in a telephone interview when told the news by NBC. Asked if Johnson will fly to New Hampshire tomorrow, the final day of the filing period, Hunter said no.

Johnson missing the deadline is also surprising, considering he has already filed for the South Carolina primary, with its $35,000 fee, NBC’s Ali Weinberg reports. New Hampshire’s is just $1,000.

This isn’t the first embarrassing misstep by the Johnson campaign in the Granite State. On his most recent campaign swing here, he scheduled a town hall in Concord. But no one except members of the media showed. His campaign blamed that on planned robo-calls not being executed in time.

Trying to show how important New Hampshire was to him in his presidential campaign plans, Johnson rented a home in Manchester.

He has also appeared in two nationally televised debates, and continues to lobby for spots in other upcoming debates.

The Secretary of State's office said Johnson's campaign never reached out to Secretary of State Bill Gardner or indicated it planned to file.

As of today, 24 Republicans and 12 Democrats are on the ballot for the New Hampshire primary.

BARRINGTON, NH -- As Michele Bachmann reminded Iowans today, the Ames Straw Poll is just seven days away, but underdog GOP presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is skipping it for what he said is a tougher challenge: a 100-mile mountain bike race in
Colorado.

Johnson is comfortable about avoiding Iowa next week, telling NBC News that he believes he will still be able to leave his candidates in the
dust come the New Hampshire primary. Johnson, who supports government posting calorie counts on all foods bought and sold and likes First Lady Michelle Obama's healthy eating campaign, says he is leading by example by putting fitness first.

"You can say I'm an extreme athlete," Johnson said here at a Tea Party picnic in New Hampshire this afternoon. "Nobody else is going to have
more energy than I am [on the campaign trail] and that's factual here."

"Yes, I'm low in the polls, but statistically I am the least known Republican," he added. "So, if all Republicans knew who I was and my poll numbers were the way that they are, I think I'd drop out."

Meanwhile, former Louisiana Gov. and four-term Congressman Buddy Roemer roamed the picnic shaking hands and asking for small donations
to achieve an ambitious fundraising goal. He proclaimed to voters he aims to raise $1 million through donations no larger than $100, in an
effort to be "free to lead" without obligations to major donors or super PACs.

"I know Washington is institutionally corrupt," Roemer said to picnickers.

"The politicians laugh... They say 'he can't do it,' but I do it every time," he said, citing his past campaigns.

Today, in the sweltering heat, Roemer managed to get one $100 check to add to the $100,000 he has already raised. Earlier this morning Roemer, who recently moved into an apartment in Manchester, campaigned at eight diners in Derry. Roemer has been out of public office for 20 years.

From NBC's Catherine Chomiak and Chris D'Alessio
This morning in Concord, NH, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R) said something he hadn't uttered before.

“I’m running for president of the United States,” he told a couple of supporters and cameramen gathered for his announcement outside the New Hampshire State Capitol. Skipping the exploratory committee phase, Johnson jumped right into the slow-to-start 2012 race. 

A New Hampshire announcement is fitting, seeing as Johnson’s strategy hangs on his success in the first-in-the-nation primary state. “New Hampshire is really key in this whole process for me. I have to do and want to do really well in New Hampshire, so I’m gonna spend a lot of time in New Hampshire where you can go from obscurity to prominence overnight with a good showing in New Hampshire,” he said.  This was Johnson’s fourth visit to the Granite State this year.

Johnson, a libertarian, differs with much of the Republican Party’s base on several issues. He supports a guest-worker program. “I’m not talking about citizenship. I’m not talking about a green card, permit of non-residential status. I’m talking about a work visa,” he said. He also favors legalizing marijuana, because he thinks if you legalize the drug “75% of the border violence with Mexico goes away because that’s the estimate of the drug cartels’ activities that are engaged in the trade of marijuana.” And opposed to both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Johnson wants America out of both countries now.

Where he and the GOP don’t differ is on the scope of the government. “I really do believe in smaller government. I really believe that there are consequences of legislation that get passed and maybe it isn’t in our best interests to pass all the legislation that we pass,” he told the small audience.