McSTREAMY.COM (08/10/2016) – With the 2016 Presidential Election coming up, faster and faster, it’s time to look at another possibility outside of the normal two major parties. Gary Earl Johnson, a former Republican Governor, is the Libertarian Party entry into the election process. Gary Johnson is an American businessman, politician and served as the 29th Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. This is the second article in a series of two looking at the Libertarian and Green Party candidates. The prior story featured Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Gary Johnson (right in above photo) was born January 1, 1953, in Minot, North Dakota. He is 63 years old. His wife of 28 years, Dee Simms, died in 2005. During his time in the New Mexico Governor’s office as a Republican, he promised a low-tax, small-government, anti-crime would be his platform and was reelected governor in the highly blue state. During his time in office from 1995 to 2003, Johnson set a gubernatorial record of 750 vetoes.
As candidate for President of the United States Gary Earl Johnson has been quoted as saying, “America needs a ‘President Veto’ right now, someone who will say no to insane spending and stop the madness that has become Washington.” When he left office as Governor of New Mexico, the state reportedly had a $1 Billion Dollar Budget Surplus. Johnson also advocated legalizing Marijuana and says in televised interviews that he has smoked Marijuana, but, if elected President, he has no current plans to smoke it while in office.
This is the second time Gary Johnson has run for President, starting the 2012 election cycle as a Republican, but, after receiving little attention, he switched to the Libertarian Party. He won the Libertarian Party nomination on May 5, 2012. His Libertarian Party candidacy gained 1.27 million popular votes. That amounted to just less than 1 percent of the total votes cast in the 2012 election, but, was big news for the Libertarian Party, as it was the most votes ever cast for a Libertarian candidate for President.
The Libertarian Party selected Johnson to head up the Presidential try again, May 29, 2016. Nearly 56 percent of party delegates chose Johnson. His Vice President running mate is former Republican Governor of Massachusetts, William Weld (left in above photo). The two say they will “share” presidential duties.
The following are some televised interviews of the Libertarian Party’s candidates for the highest office in the land. This is not an endorsement of the candidates. It is simply our attempt to give you as much information as possible for you to decide who you cast your vote for in the November 8, 2016 Presidential Election.
