DAVE BREITENSTEIN

DBREITENSTEIN@NEWS-PRESS.COM

Who is Gary Johnson?

While Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have commanded most of the attention, Libertarian Gary Johnson ranks No. 3 in most polls that include candidates beyond the big two. We know Johnson opposes raising taxes and is known for vetoing hundreds of bills as governor of New Mexico, and few could forget his "Aleppo moment" and other blunders on the campaign trail.

Below are eight additional things to know about the Libertarian presidential hopeful:

Family: Fiance Kate Prusack; children Leah and Erik

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor's degree

Date of Birth: Jan. 1, 1953

Place of Birth: Minor, N.D.

Religion: Lutheran

Twitter: GovGaryJohnson (378,000 followers)

Facebook: GovGaryJohnson (1.7 million likes)

Instagram: GovGaryJohnson (82,000 followers)

Elections 2016: Gary Johnson

Profiles of the three other leading presidential candidates: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Jill Stein.

USA TODAY also provided a quick look at where the four leading candidates stand on seven major issues. Here is where Johnson stands:

Taxes

Favors eliminating tax loopholes in the short term, but in the longer term calls for "the replacement of all income and payroll taxes with a single consumption tax that determines your tax burden by how much you spend, not how much you earn."

Health Care

Supports a "free market approach" to health care that converts it into a routine service. "We would not have insurance to cover ourselves for ongoing medical need. We would have insurance to cover ourselves for catastrophic injury and illness."

Environment/Climate

Told CNBC, "I do think that climate change is occurring, that it is man-caused. One of the proposals that I think is a very libertarian proposal, and I'm just open to this, is taxing carbon emission," which will lead the market to solve the problem.

Gun Control

Believes making it easier to carry concealed weapons will prevent a lot of gun violence; told USA TODAY, "If there were law-abiding citizens that were carrying weapons — I'm not saying they would lessen the impact of these horrible atrocities, but maybe, maybe they could."

Islamic State/terrorism

Opposes military campaign without congressional approval. Instead, U.S. should "cut funding off to ISIS to contain what’s happening over there and make sure it stays over there. Brains not bombs. Cut off their funding and involve Congress for declaring war if that’s what we’re gonna do. If we’re going to put boots on the ground, that’s war."

Refugees

Says U.S. should accept Syrian refugees "only after extensive background checks and continuous monitoring to ensure they have no terrorist connections."

Immigration

Told Fox News, "We should make it as easy as possible for somebody that wants to come into this country and work to be able to get a work visa. A work visa should entail a background check and a Social Security card that taxes get paid."