It’s that time of the year again, folks, the leaves are falling, the pumpkins are in season, and the elections are closing in on us like the cobra closes in on its prey. With the coming election, I find it pertinent for everyone to know how the candidates feel about certain topics that effect them as citizens of the United States. Everything a candidate says can and will be recorded for everyone to receive and form their own opinions on.

Let’s start with the candidate for the Libertarian party, Gary Johnson. A lot of you may not know who this candidate is, or what he represents. Gary Johnson is a 63 year old Libertarian who used to represent the Republican party as the 29th governor of the state of New Mexico. Contrary to his previous party affiliation, Gary Johnson has been the least Republican candidate you could probably get.

The candidate has been asked before where he stands on the issue of Planned Parenthood and abortion, giving the quote, “It should be left up to the woman. If my daughter were pregnant and she came to me and asked me what she ought to do, I would advise her to have the child. But I would not for a minute pretend that I should make that decision for her or any other woman.” He also stated that he “supports women’s rights to choose up until viability of the fetus.” Abortion has been a hot topic of debate between the two major parties for many years, and could be a deciding factor in how many American’s vote in this election.

On the issue of economics and the fact of our national debt, Gary Johnson had this to say, “National debt is the greatest threat to national security.” Johnson has also said that we do not need 20,000-60,000 troops in the Middle East, which costs more money than it’s worth for us. Governor Johnson has a lot of tremendous ideas on budget, and there are so many that I couldn’t go over them all. I can, however, offer a link to his views on economics.

In 2015, a Colorado bakery denied a same-sex couple a wedding cake – here’s a link to the CNN article on the court ruling – due to religious affiliation. Johnson, when posed the question of if the court ruling was correct in his eyes, said that denying a same-sex couple the same services as a heterosexual couple is discrimination. Right now we cannot discriminate, and allowing bakeries to deny customers due to sexual orientation would change that fact.

Lastly, the stance on immigration. Gary Johnson would like to make it easier for immigrants, not only from Mexico, but from all countries, to get a work visa. However, on the flip side of that he has also stated that he would prefer to give legal immigrants one strike and then they’re out. He’s also commented on the idea of a 10-foot wall on the border of Mexico, which was not specifically Trump’s wall, by saying, “A 10-foot wall just requires an 11-foot ladder.”

If you have anymore questions about any of Gary’s standpoints on what it is you’re concerned with, I implore you to follow this link to the website where I have pulled this information from.