Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said early Sunday that he won't run for president because of family considerations, narrowing the field in the race for the GOP nomination.

"In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one," Daniels said, disclosing his decision in an e-mail to supporters. "The interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry."

The e-mail, sent by the governor through Eric Holcomb, the Indiana Republican Party chairman and one of Daniels' closest advisers, was confirmed by another aide close to Daniels on the condition of anonymity to avoid publicly pre-empting the governor's announcement.

"The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate," Daniels said in the middle-of-the-night message.

"If you feel that this was a non-courageous or unpatriotic decision, I understand and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise," he added. "I only hope that you will accept my sincerity in the judgment I reached."

Daniels had been considering a bid for months, pressured by many in the establishment wing of the party hungering for a conservative with a strong fiscal record to get into the race. He never sounded particularly enthused about a national run, and always pointed back to his family _ his wife and four daughters _ as the primary consideration.

As he weighed a bid, the spotlight shown on his unusual marital history as well.

His wife, Cheri, filed for divorce in 1993 and moved to California to remarry, leaving him to raise their four daughters in Indiana. She later divorced, and she and Daniels reconciled and remarried in 1997.

He didn't mention those details in the e-mail.

It ended: "Many thanks for your help and input during this period of reflection. Please stay in touch if you see ways in which an obscure Midwestern governor might make a constructive contribution to the rebuilding of our economy and our Republic."