Chris Christie is taking a surprise trip back to New Jersey after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire

Thomson Reuters

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is going back to New Jersey after a disappointing showing in the New Hampshire Republican primary Tuesday night.

With a majority of precincts precincts reporting, Christie had less than 8% of the vote. He was projected to finish sixth, behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), and other competitors.

"We're going to go home to New Jersey tomorrow and we're going to take a deep breath, see what the final results are tonight, because that matters, whether we're sixth or fifth and exactly how all the final votes will be counted," Christie said in a speech Tuesday night.

"Because so many New Hampshire residents came out today, it's going to take a while to count these votes. So we want to see exactly what happens," he continued.

Christie also said that once he's back in New Jersey, he'll "take a deep breath," take stock of his candidacy, and make a decision about the next step forward.

Fox News host Howard Kurtz speculated that Christie will drop out of the race. He is unlikely to qualify for the next Republican debate on Saturday, which requires that participants place in the top-five in New Hampshire or in national polls.

Real-estate mogul Donald Trump won New Hampshire by a wide margin, and Kasich came in second.

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