NEWT SAYS NO TO PRESIDENTIAL RACE

After long talks with his wife and his advisors over the weekend, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he has decided not torun for president in 1996, because he wants to focus on fulfilling the Republican "Contract With America" in Congress. GOP party regulars had urged Gingrich to run, and offered him financial backing, after former Vice President Dan Quayle dropped out of the GOP field last week. Gingrich had previously maintained he had no plans to run for president in the near future, but he had invited speculation about his plans by scheduling a summertime visit to New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary next February. "Most people were assuming he wouldn't run," said TIME congressional correspondent Karen Tumulty. "It was sort of hard to see, logistically, how he could do his current job and still run for president."