Christie leaving campaign trail as storm bears down at home

Republican Gov. Chris Christie says he will return to New Jersey from the presidential campaign trail to deal with a potentially dangerous snowstorm that has much of the state under a blizzard warning.

Christie was scheduled to remain in New Hampshire through the weekend, when the bulk of the storm was expected to dump up to 18 inches of snow on parts of New Jersey.

Christie said Friday he was canceling campaign events Friday and Saturday because of the weather, but his wife, Mary Pat Christie, would stay in New Hampshire.

The decision less than three weeks from the critical New Hampshire primary positions the governor to field-marshal the state’s storm response. That role helped propel him to political success in New Jersey during past storms.