Dubai: While Clinton and Trump dominate headlines, a third-party candidate also began his campaign trail after cinching the Libertarian nomination last month.

Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, is running on a fiscally conservative, low-tax, anti-crime platform similar to the one that won him two terms as governor.

Very little has been said about the presidential candidate. Gulf News profiles the presumptive Libertarian presidential nominee who is looking to break through the two-party system and — as he puts it on his campaign site — “make America sane again.”

Background

Johnson was born in North Dakota on January 1, 1953. He earned his degree in Political Science at the University of New Mexico, but did not enter politics until running for Governor of New Mexico in 1994.

Before that, Johnson owned and ran the mechanical contracting company Big J Enterprises, which he turned into a multimillion dollar business before selling in 1999.

Johnson served two terms as New Mexico governor from 1995-2003. By the end of his final term, New Mexico had a budget surplus of about $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion), and Johnson was arguably considered one of the most popular governors of the decade.

Presidential runs

Though initially stating he was not interested in the presidency, several years later, in 2011, Johnson bluntly announced on Twitter that he was running for president.

He first ran as a Republican, but according to him, he grew displeased with the party’s nomination process and decided to seek the Libertarian nomination.

The presidential bid proved unsuccessful.

However, Johnson once again announced his candidacy for the Libertarian nomination in January of this year.

In May, he named former Massachusetts governor William Weld as his running mate. Later that same month, he received the Libertarian nomination.

Platform

Similar to his policies as governor, Johnson advocates for reduced government spending, criminal justice reform, reduced interventionism abroad, and — perhaps most radically of all — a limited government.

According to his campaign website: “Responsible adults should be free to marry whom they want, arm themselves if they want, make their own decisions about their bodies, and lead their personal lives as they see fit — as long as no harm is done to others. And they should be able to do so without unconstitutional scrutiny by the NSA, the ATF, the DEA or any other government agency.”

Overall, the Johnson/Weld campaign is based on freedom and conservative spending, both hallmarks of the Libertarian Party. Whether or not they will be able to breakthrough the traditional two-party duopoly and garner votes, however, remains to be seen.