Gary Johnson to Run for President in 2016?

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson said he hopes to run again for president in 2016. He was the nominee for the Libertarian Party in 2012.

During that election, Johnson received 1.2 million votes, just under one percent of the popular ballot.

Johnson was governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003. While in office, he led a campaign to reform drug laws. This drive was aimed at treating addiction as a health issue, and removing criminal penalties for small amounts of marijuana.

Elected to the governor’s office as a Republican, he often fought his own party. One-third of the 750 bills Johnson vetoed were sponsored by the GOP. In 2008, he endorsed libertarian firebrand Ron Paul for president.

The former governor tried to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. He was not invited to most debates, and withdrew from the party’s consideration in December 2011. Johnson announced he would run as a member of the Libertarian Party.

A Reddit user recently asked the former governor if he would run for the Oval Office in the coming presidential election.

Johnson replied “I hope to be able to run in 2016.” A follow-up question asked if he would run as a Republican or Libertarian.

He wrote, “I would love running as a Libertarian because I would have the least amount of explaining to do.”

Since 2012, revelations of domestic spying and other abuses of power have made Americans less trusting of government. Dramatic shifts of public opinion have also occurred on the subjects of marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage. Johnson was an early supporter of both movements during his last run for President.

Johnson recently produced an video advertisement, asking for donations to fund a lawsuit, opening presidential debates to “all qualified candidates.”

The former governor may have identified his greatest strength, as well as weakness, to reporters when he surmised, “I was born with an overdose of common sense.”

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/remember-gary-johnson-he-wants-to-run-for-president-

again-20140423

http://reason.com/blog/2014/04/21/change-the-presidential-debates-gary-joh

http://www.newsmax.com/politics/gary-johnson-libertarian-2016-new-mexico/2014/04/28/id/568028/

http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/04/libertarian_gary_johnson_wants.html

http://www.talkradionews.com/elections/2014/04/23/gary-johnson-open-2016-run.html