by Ashlyn Gerbaz
Gary Johnson is a businessman, author, former governor and the Libertarian Party’s nominee for both the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections.
Johnson was born on Jan. 1, 1953 in Minot, N.D. He grew up in an upper-middle- class neighborhood in Minot. Johnson’s father was a teacher and his mother worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Johnson’s family later relocated to New Mexico.
In 1971, Johnson graduated from Sandia High School in Albuquerque. Johnson attended the University of New Mexico (UNM) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in political science in 1975. While at UNM, Johnson was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Fresh out of college, Johnson opened his own business, Big J Enterprise, focusing on mechanical contracting. In the beginning, Johnson was the company’s only employee. The first major break for the business came when Johnson received a contact from Intel’s expansion in Rio Rancho. This increased Big J Enterprise’s revenue to $38 million.
Johnson was able to grow his business into a multi- million dollar corporation. Big J Enterprises was sold by Johnson in 1999, and by then it was one of New Mexico’s leading construction companies.
Johnson entered politics in 1994 when he ran for New Mexico’s governor. His intent in running was to bring a “common sense business approach” to government and his slogan was “People before Politics.”
Johnson’s platform emphasized tax cuts, job creation, law and order and restraint on state government spending. Despite his current libertarian standing, Johnson won the Republican nomination and the spot in office.
Johnson followed a strict small- government approach as governor. His first six months in office, Johnson vetoed 200 of the 424 bills that reached his office. And keeping his promise to lower government spending, reducing 10 percent of the annual growth of the state budget.
He also proposed many tax cuts. These included a cut on prescription drug tax, an income tax cut and a gasoline tax cut. Only the gasoline tax cut passed, dropping the price of gasoline by six cents a gallon.
Johnson ran for reelection as governor in 1998, he once again won as a Republican nominee. While he promised to continue his platform from his first term, he added a few more improvements for his second term, including the improvement of public schools.
Johnson announced his Presidential candidacy on April 21, 2011, via Twitter as a Republican. This candidacy was short-lived, and in December of 2011 Johnson made the decision to switch over and started campaigning as a Libertarian.
Johnson spent much of 2012 campaigning on television. He made guest appearances on shows such as “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld.” During September 2012, Johnson also spent three weeks touring and campaigning on college campuses.
Johnson’s goal with the 2012 election was to receive at least 5 percent of the popular vote. This would allow the Libertarian Party equal ballot access and federal funding for the next election cycle. In the final results, he received 0.99 percent of votes. While 0.99 percent of votes was not the 5 percent Johnson had hoped for, it was the best result in the Libertarian Party’s history.
Johnson announced he would be seeking the Libertarian nomination in the Presidential election on Jan. 6, 2016. He chose former governor of Massachusetts, William Weld, as his running mate.
It is very unlikely Johnson will be anywhere close to the Oval Office in 2017, as his poll numbers are at a low 5.6 percent.
