San Antonio advertising guru Sosa endorses Libertarian Gary Johnson

Lionel Sosa, a businessman and advertising consultant, stands in front of a painting of his wife, Kathy, in 2015. He is newly appointed as one of three chairmen of the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee. Lionel Sosa, a businessman and advertising consultant, stands in front of a painting of his wife, Kathy, in 2015. He is newly appointed as one of three chairmen of the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee. Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close San Antonio advertising guru Sosa endorses Libertarian Gary Johnson 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

Lionel Sosa, a San Antonio marketing executive and lifelong Republican who defected from the GOP in June, said Friday that he’s endorsing Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

Sosa had worked for GOP presidential nominees dating back to Ronald Reagan after getting a start in political advertising with a 1978 senatorial re-election campaign. In June, he wrote “Farewell, my Grand Old Party,” an op-ed in the San Antonio Express-News, that laid out his reasons for leaving the political party he’s been loyal to since he was a teen in the 1950s.

It was his disdain for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that pushed him from the party and to Johnson.

“If (John) Kasich or Jeb Bush were the nominee, I would have stuck with the Republican Party all the way. I think I would have considered almost anyone but Trump,” he said while waiting to catch a plane in Miami, where he was to film a segment of “Al Punto, con Jorge Ramos” on Univision.

Sosa said of Trump: “I sincerely believe that he is a fellow that doesn’t know how to do his homework, that just relies on what he thinks he has to say at the moment to attract whoever is in his audience at the moment.”

Johnson and running mate Bill Weld — both former Republican governors — are “both men of character — people we can trust” who haven’t faced investigations into alleged nefarious actions, Sosa said.

“I think (Johnson) is the logical alternative since I can’t stomach Trump and I can’t really feel comfortable with Hillary. I feel he is just the perfect alternative because he is fiscally responsible, and yet socially open. And that’s kind of the way I feel that I am.”

Asked whether he’s OK with Johnson’s position on legalization of marijuana, Sosa said he’s not bothered by it.

“I don’t partake in marijuana. I think I tried it twice when I was in my early 30s and it had no effect so I never did it again, but a lot of the people whom I know, you know, use it regularly,” he said. “I think it’s fine. I think it’s less dangerous than alcohol. It just happens to be outlawed at the time.”

jbaugh@express-news.net

Twitter: @jbaugh