By Matt Dougherty , Special to The Chronicle

The plot thickened this week in the race for the Republican presidential candidate when New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced that he would not run for president.

Students from Christie’s home state have expressed their opinions on what it means that he will not be running. For the most part, students seem to be happy that Christie will not be running for president.

“I have mixed emotions,” said Ryan Rose, a sophomore film major from Burlington County, N.J. “On one hand there is no chance of him being president so that’s good, but on the other hand he is still governor of New Jersey and that’s bad.”

Garrett Van Curen, education major and junior from Hasbrouk Heights, N.J., seems pleased that his governor will not be going after the commander-in-chief position next. “I want to be an educator, possibly in New Jersey, and he’s made some of the harshest cuts specifically to public education so he scares me, and I know that he scares a lot of other educators.”

Last year, the governor cut $820 million in state aid for school districts. Thousands of teachers in the state were laid off when their respective districts did not vote in favor of a pay freeze. Tensions remain high between Christie and the New Jersey teachers.

“I’m glad because I didn’t agree with a lot of what he did, especially the changes he made to the education system,” said Emilie de Sainte Maresville, a sophomore from Mantua, NJ. “He definitely didn’t place enough value on education in the state and I think that’s something that a presidential candidate needs to focus on.”

(Courtesy of creativecommons.org)