After months of flirting with the idea of a presidential bidand teasing supporters with sly hints that she might run, Sarah Palin announced Wednesday evening that she definitely won’t be joining the entering the Republican presidential nominating race.

“After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president of the United States,” Palin wrote in a letter to supporters obtained by ABC News. “As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.”

Palin, who also announced her plans on the Mark Levin radio show, is the second Republican this week to decide to stay out of the race. But the major difference between the former Alaska governor and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is that, based on recent polls, the Republican faithful were no longer so enamored of her as they once were and seemingly only had eyes for Christie. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll released this week, 66 percent of respondents said that Palin shouldn’t get into the race.

(Photo: AP Photo/John Raoux)