Now, who is this Gary Johnson and the Libertarian party?

In recent decades, the Presidential elections in the United States has been a clear competition between the Republicans and Democrats. However, the current year might be a game changer in the US political scene

Gary Johnson, Libertarian party, US presidential election, 2016 US Presidential election, Democrats, Republicans, Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, third party in US presidential election, world news

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson gives acceptance speech during National Convention held at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida. REUTERS/Kevin Kolczynski

On Sunday, the Libertarian party in the United States nominated Gary Johnson as the Presidential candidate for the upcoming elections to be held in the fall of 2016. In recent decades, the Presidential elections in the United States has been a clear competition between the Republicans and Democrats. However, the current year might be a game changer in the US political scene with the kind of unpopularity the two Presidential candidates find themselves grappling with.

The Libertarian party was officially founded in 1971. The party ideology considers itself to be ‘more culturally liberal’ than the Democrats and ‘more fiscally conservative’ than the Republicans. In the 2012 Presidential elections, the party picked up 1 per cent of the general election votes against President Barack Obama and Republican contestant Mitt Romney. Even though the Libertarians have never been elected to the US Congress, they have had much success in the state legislatures. In terms of popular votes, the Libertarian is the country’s third largest party.

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At the party’s convention in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, Gary Johnson won the second ballot, thereby becoming the nominee of the party to the Presidential elections. Johnson is a former Republican and was Governor of the state of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003. He joined the Libertarian party in December 2011 and was nominated as the party’s official Presidential candidate in 2012.

If he wins the elections, Johnson plans on cutting down taxes and cutting back on military interventions. He is also aggressively pursuing the legalisation of Marijuana.

The Libertarian party is the only third party with ballot access in 50 states. This means that for voters, Johnson is the only option apart from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. A recent nationwide poll had shown that 44 per cent of registered voters want an alternative to Trump and Clinton.

Historically speaking, the last time a third party had done well in the United States was in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt ran for the Bull Moose Party and finished second to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Since then the political stage of the United States has never seen a third party getting the limelight.

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