Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who ran for president in 2012 with the Libertarian Party, said he would like to be a third party candidate in 2016, the
National Journal reported.
Johnson was elected in 1994 as a Republican in New Mexico and served two terms as governor. He participated in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session last week.
"I hope to be able to run in 2016," Johnson replied to a query, according to the National Journal.
Among his policy pronouncements, Johnson said he favored eliminating guaranteed government student loans. Doing so would reduce college costs, he said. He is also for disbanding the Drug Enforcement Administration. "A lot of prison guards, judges and lawyers" would also need "to find something else to do" in a more libertarian America.
He prefers being a Libertarian rather than Republican candidate. "I would love running as a Libertarian because I would have the least amount of explaining to do."
Johnson garnered about 1.2 million votes in the 2012 presidential election or roughly 1 percent of the popular vote, the Journal reported.
He supported legalized marijuana and single-sex marriage early on. "Yesterdays Republicans wouldn't have dreamed of supporting state gay-marriage laws or medical marijuana. Now, the GOP's big names are skirting those issues, but not openly opposing them, either," according to the Journal.
Johnson promotes himself on a website as having been the "most fiscally conservative governor" in the country. He vetoed more bills than all other governors combined and by the time he left office, New Mexico taxes had been cut and the state budget balanced, he said.