This is undoubtedly a historic year for American politics. On the left, we have a career politician who embodies everything Americans hate about our corrupt government. On the right, we have a career businessman who embodies everything Americans hate about our 1 percent. Throw in some juicy storylines about email scandals and “locker room talk,” and this is sure to be an election our children will read about in classroom textbooks decades from now. Come the day I’m asked who I voted for, I’ll gladly say “Gary Johnson.”
Gary Johnson is a widely unknown libertarian candidate for president, and the only third-party candidate to be on the ballot in all 50 states. He is a successful entrepreneurial businessman that has created and sold a multi-million dollar construction company. Following his successful business venture, Johnson served as a two-term republican governor in his democratic home state of New Mexico. Business experience? Check. Political experience? Check.
Where does Gary Johnson stand on the issues? Well, you’d probably agree with him. He believes in personal freedoms, including marriage equality, marijuana legalization and gun rights. He believes in smaller government, including fewer regulations, fewer taxes, free-market healthcare and reduced military spending. Johnson has led in nationwide polls among voters ages 18-24, military personnel and independents. He clearly resonates with some of the most important voting groups in our country.
Will Gary Johnson win the presidency? Probably not. There’s an outside chance he could win his home state of New Mexico and play spoiler, keeping both Trump and Clinton from their needed 270 electoral votes. The vote would then go to the House of Representatives and their election would decide the presidency between the three candidates. The situation is very unlikely, though not impossible. A more likely outcome would be Johnson’s ticket gaining 5 percent of the national vote, which would allow the Libertarian Party to share in the millions of dollars the Federal Elections Commission makes available to republican and democratic candidates each election cycle, forging a path for future libertarian candidates.
But Johnson is giving us so much more than just a chance to play spoiler. He’s giving us an opportunity to tell the Democrats and Republicans that we won’t settle for their awful options. We won’t choose the lesser of two evils. Johnson is giving us a vote for a candidate that we believe in.