Gov. Chris Christie will endorse Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a news conference in New Hampshire this afternoon, a spokesman for Romney’s campaign has confirmed. Christie and Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, will make the announcement in Lebanon, N.H., about an hour northwest of the state capital, Concord, and near the Vermont border, spokesman Ryan Williams said.

Christie will then accompany Romney to tonight’s Republican presidential debate in Hanover, N.H., Williams said. Christie is en route to the state, Williams said, which holds the nation’s first primary and is an established presidential battleground.

Christie, who was being considered by pundits as a possible candidate for president himself until last week, has said he would hold off endorsing until he found a candidate that he thought had the potential to win the nomination.

But Christie and Romney, who have both been Republican governors in largely Democratic states, share several connections. Romney endorsed Christie when the former U.S. attorney ran for governor in 2009. And in January he became the first Republican presidential contender to visit Christie at the governor’s mansion in Princeton.

Then in March, Romney donated $25,000 to the New Jersey Republican Party. In addition, Christie’s longtime friend, state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), led Romney’s campaign in the 2008 Republican presidential primary in New Jersey.

Last month, Christie criticized the entire Republican field for not discussing the issues he thinks are most important, like entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Social Security. His speech two weeks ago at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. was meant to act as a call to the field to discuss the issues he values, Christie said. More in Star Ledger.