Barbour Inching Near Decision?

Haley Barbour is returning to New Hampshire on Wednesday, May 4, Fox News has learned.

The Mississippi governor will be keynoting a fundraiser celebrating Rockingham County Sherriff Mike Downing, hosted by the Derry and Hampstead Republican committees.

The New Hampshire event takes place a day before the first major GOP debate of the primary calendar, hosted by Fox News and the South Carolina GOP on May 5.

Barbour has said he'll make a decision whether to make a presidential bid by the end of April and this May announcement indicates he may be leaning towards a serious run.

"I have not been told that he's running yet. I know he's making a decision shortly," Mike Dennehy, the political consultant who has been organizing Barbour's trips to the state, told Fox News.

Dennehy said Barbour made a positive impression last week during his first visit to New Hampshire as a presidential hopeful.

"Having never having seen him in action in this kind of setting, what impacted me was the way he connected with people one-on-one -- his warmth and charm," said Dennehy. "On several occasions, people would come up to me afterwards and say they really like him. He looked them in the eye."