Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson vetoed 200 pieces of legislation in his first year as Governor of New Mexico in 1995, a 50% higher rate than his 42 predecessors combined. A former construction company owner who started with one employee in 1976, he governed as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Johnson reduced state government workforce by 1,200 positions and left office with a $1 billion budget surplus. He climbed Mount Everest in May 2003, six months after leaving the governor's office. The Libertarian Party nominated him for president in 2012 and 2016. His 2016 campaign secured ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a first for any third-party candidate since 1996. Johnson received 4,489,221 votes in 2016, the highest raw total for a Libertarian candidate in U.S. history. He advocated for eliminating the IRS, the Departments of Education and Commerce, and the Transportation Security Administration. Johnson's 'What is Aleppo?' moment in a 2016 interview defined his campaign's struggle for mainstream traction. His two presidential runs forced inclusion in three major national debates and shifted Libertarian Party platform discussions toward pragmatic governance.