9 things to know about Gary Johnson
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico, is hoping to turn some voters’ dissatisfaction with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton into electoral gold.
Recent polls show Johnson — who was also the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 2012, when he earned about 1 percent of the vote — garnering more than 7 percent of the vote nationally. If he can repeatedly break 15 percent, he may make it into the official presidential debates this fall.
Johnson is now courting voters who are fiscally conservative, but socially liberal.
Four years ago, he raised about $2.8 million for his long-shot presidential bid and appeared on the ballot in every state except Michigan and Oklahoma. This year, his supporters are hoping to top that — and qualify for the ballot in all 50 states.
Johnson may be best known for supporting the legalization of marijuana.
Prior to entering the 2016 race, Johnson served as CEO of a publicly traded company called Cannabis Sativa, Inc., which, as Johnson once said, wants to be “the Dom Perignon” of marijuana.
Time will tell if Johnson’s 2016 presidential bid gain traction, or just go up in smoke. In the meantime, here are nine key facts about Johnson’s current and past campaigns.
This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Sources: Center for Public Integrity reporting, as well as Federal Election Commission filings, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, GaryJohnson2016.com, Reason.com, 247wallst.com and Wikipedia.
Image sources: Rick Bowmer/AP, Gage Skidmore/Flickr
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This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
