Former Gov. Gary Johnson, R-N.M., looks set to make another run at the White House on the Libertarian line.
Johnson told Truth in Media last week that he expected to run again but would not enter the race any time soon. After making little progress running for the Republican nomination, Johnson joined the Libertarians and pulled just less than 1 percent of the popular vote in the 2012 general election.
Talking to Truth in Media, Johnson said he wasn’t going to run at this time but will enter the race for the Libertarin nomination.
“There’s no real advantage to getting out there at this point,” Johnson said. “You’ve got the Republicans that are sucking all the air out of the room, and for that matter, same with the Democrats.
“I hope to be the Libertarian nominee and I hope to be able to be the voice of what I think is the philosophy of most Americans, which speaking with a broad brush stroke, is being fiscally responsible and socially liberal -- the definition of a classic liberal which I think most of us in this country fall in that category,” Johnson added.
Elected governor of New Mexico in 1994, Johnson won a second term and garnered national attention for his fiscal conservatism, support of marijuana legalization and criticism of the War on Drugs. After backing then-U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, for president in 2008, Johnson launched a presidential bid of his own in 2012 but ended up gaining little traction. While Johnson did appear in the debate held by the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) at its “Presidency 5” event in Orlando back in September 2011, the former New Mexico governor was left out of the other debates. Johnson pulled out of the Republican field at the end of December 2011 and continued running as a Libertarian.
Continuing his presidential bid, Johnson won the Libertarian nod and called for major cuts to the federal government, supported the FairTax proposal, wanted less American intervention abroad and called for less government intrusion on Americans’ civil liberties. Johnson pulled more than 1.25 million votes, the most a Libertarian presidential candidate had ever won. It also marked the best showing a third-party presidential candidate had pulled since the 2000 election.
Johnson does not have an open shot at the Libertarian nomination as the national party recognizes Marc Feldman, Steve Kerbel, Cecil Ince, Darryl Perry and Rhett Smith as current candidates and other hopefuls are also trying for the Libertarian nod.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
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Thanks for the catch.