Washington ( CNN ) Maryland Gov . Martin O'Malley told an audience at the University of Chicago on Thursday that he has been `` seriously considering '' a running for president , and suggested his decision on whether he 'll jump in to the race will come this spring . `` Right now , my primary responsibility is to move my family back to Baltimore , which I will do in another week , '' said O'Malley , whose term ends this month . `` So I 'm going to be taking some time over the next couple of months to get my family situated . '' He added , `` I 've been very encouraged as I travel around the country by a number of people who repeat again and again and again their desire for getting things done again as a country and also for new leadership to get those things done . '' If the phrase `` seriously considering '' sounds familiar , that 's because it is . O'Malley has been `` seriously considering '' running for president since early 2014 . He told the LA Times after a speech in Iowa in July 2014 that he was `` seriously considering '' a bid . He told Fusion in August 2104 that he was `` seriously considering a run in 2016 '' and he told CNN in February 2014 that he was preparing the `` ground work necessary to offer a better direction for our country . '' The two-term governor from Maryland has long been `` considering '' a run for president , but his polling numbers have not responded to his planning . In a December 2014 CNN/ORC International poll , O'Malley garnered only 1 % support , putting him 65 % behind frontrunner Hillary Clinton . Voters rejected O'Malley 's Maryland Democratic Party at the ballot box in 2014 when the governor 's handpicked successor , Anthony Brown , lost the governor 's race to Republican Larry Hogan . `` I can tell you my feelings were hurt , '' O'Malley said about the loss . `` We had done a lot of really good things in Maryland and in the end you did not hear much about it during the campaign . '' He added , though , `` I was not on the ballot . ''
He told an audience in Chicago on Thursday that he was 'seriously considering ' a presidential bid . The former Florida governor has been seen as the most likely Republican candidate to challenge President Barack Obama for the White House next year and is expected to announce his candidacy at some point this year. O'Malley 's says his `` feelings were hurt '' when his hand picked successor lost his gubernatorial bid in 2014 .