Some of us might know who Gary Johnson is, some may have head of him, and some may have no idea. Some might even know him because of his active lifestyle of hiking and biking. The easiest way to describe him is to say that he is projected to be one of the top three presidential candidates in the 2016 election. He is a libertarian candidate that will then try to run as a third party candidate. Many see this as an attempt to prohibit Donald Trump from becoming president. The problem that some have is that Hillary Clinton would most likely win the election.

Early life

He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a Bachelors degree in political science. Johnson Started his own business when he was quite young. It had a focus in mechanical contracting, and at the start of the company he was the only employee. His business expanded into a multimillion dollar business with hundreds of employees due to his drive and determination.

Governor

In 1994 Johnson ran for the governor in the state of New Mexico. At that time, he was a republican outsider. He ran against a former governor, and state legislators. He strongly promoted individual economic issues and eventually won the republican nomination. Just a few months later he was elected as the governor of New Mexico.

The main thing that sticks out in his career is that he is determined. In his first few months as governor he vetoed almost half the bills that came to him. He would not pass any bill which increased the size of government. He is a firm believer is small government. He also is known for heavily cutting taxes on numerous items. In his first term he worked to decrease the drop out rates. When more spending on education didn’t work he focused on school vouchers. He is dedicated to his goals.

He was re-elected again in 1998, defeating a Hispanic candidate in a strongly Hispanic state. During his campaign he promised to continue the same policies of limited government, lowering taxes, and strengthening schools. During this term he really voiced his opinion on drugs. He felt like the drugs laws in the United States is similar to the prohibition era. He advocates strongly for the legalization of marijuana. He argued that drug use was a health issue not a legal issue.

2012 Presidential Election

In 2011 Gary Johnson campaigned on the Republican ticket and even appeared in a fox news debate during his presidential campaign. He felt like he would not become an essential candidate for the Republican party so he dropped out of the Republican primary race and decided to run on the Libertarian Party ticket. In the election he received a little over 1 million votes which is seen as quite respectable because he was a third party candidate.

All in all, Gary Johnson might become a quite popular name in politics over the next few months. It is important to know who he is and what has happened in his past. If he does run for president, he might be a big factor. It is highly unlikely that he will win, but, it is highly likely that he will take votes away from one or both of the candidates and therefore, will cause the other candidate to win. This election may end up being very similar to to the 2000 election when Ralph Nader took too many votes away from Al Gore.