JACKSON (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour isn’t running for president in 2012. The Republican issued a statement Monday saying he “will not be a candidate for president next year.”

Barbour says it was a difficult, personal decision. But he said that it would have been an all-consuming effort to the exclusion of all else. He says he cannot offer “absolute fire in the belly” and “total certainty” that a presidential candidate should have.

Barbour says he will continue his job as Mississippi governor and help elect governors across the country.