Gary Johnson Announces Presidential Bid; Challenges Two-Party Control of Debates

image
Published: 06 Jan, 2016
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
1 min read

Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxbusiness.com">video.foxbusiness.com</a>

Former governor of New Mexico and 2012 Libertarian presidential nominee for president, Gary Johnson, announced his candidacy for president Wednesday. Johnson made the announcement via Neil Cavuto's show on Fox Business, saying, "I'm hoping to get the Libertarian nomination for president in 2016."

During his announcement, Johnson highlighted his platform priorities, which include:

  • Reducing the $20 trillion national debt;
  • Increasing personal freedom;
  • Reducing the size and scope of government;
  • Being fiscally conservative and socially liberal; and
  • Protecting the freedom of religion while cutting off funding for the politics of Sharia law.

Johnson has been very vocal about the lack of competition in the presidential election process. He's previously argued that the Commission on Presidential Debates has purposely written the rules to exclude all candidates who are neither Republican nor Democrat:

"We've sued the Presidential Debate Commission" said Johnson during his announcement. "The notion that if you're on the ballot in enough states to mathematically be elected president  you should be included in the presidential debates. If the Libertarian nominee for president, and I hope that's me, is in the presidential debates, I think that a lot of things can change in this country."

When prodded by Cavuto as to whether or not a Gary Johnson candidacy might "hurt" the eventual republican nominee, Johnson rebuffed saying, "I think a lot of people hold to that belief, but in fact, that's not the case at all. When it comes to Libertarians, Libertarians draw as many votes from Democrats as they do from Republicans."

Photo: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read