Nicole Maxwell

Alamogordo Daily News

ALAMOGORDO – Former governor and senatorial candidate Gary Johnson recently finished the 2018 Tour Divide bikepacking race along the Continental Divide.

It took him 28 days to ride 2,800 miles from Banff, Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

Last year it took him 35 days.

"At 65 years old, I'm a pretty fit guy and also because of coming in so late, the campaign is only a couple of months, I'd like to say that I can do anything for a couple of months," Johnson said.

Libertarian candidate Johnson is running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich. Johnson, a former Republican-turned-Libertarian is also running against Republican Mick Rich.

Johnson paid a visit to Alamogordo Tuesday morning.

"I'm not going to be a wallflower," Johnson said. "I don't need a job where I'm going to want to get re-elected. I'll never get re-elected if I get elected the first time and do the things I'm saying I'm going to do."

Johnson had a great deal to say about many subjects important to New Mexicans including the federal budget, energy resources and legalizing marijuana.

He said if elected, he would like to be on the Senate Budgetary Committee and submit a balanced budget.

Johnson fears that since the U.S. is spending roughly $1 trillion more than what it is bringing in, that a result would be inflation on a mass scale.

“That’s going to be the worst tax of all. The government spending needs to be reduced and nobody seems to be talking about it,” he said.

Johnson’s suggested cuts include budget cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and the military.

“When I talk about cutting spending, when you cut spending you look into efficiently spending the dollars you do spend,” he said.

When Johnson was governor, he served on the BRAC Commission and says that he added to New Mexico’s military assets.

“All military assets in the United States belong in New Mexico because things don’t rust here,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s energy policy centers around natural gas instead of a focus on renewable energy.

“We have lots of wind and sun, but we also have got a lot of natural gas,” he said.

Since renewable energy predictions put the U.S. as producing 40 percent to 50 percent renewable energy by 2040 but the remainder of that is natural gas, Johnson said.

“(New Mexico) is providing (the natural gas) and that has to do with fracking and so I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds us,” he said. “Natural gas is responsible for the bankruptcy of coal. We don’t want coal around. It’s the best example of the free market because natural gas costs so much less.”

Recreational marijuana legalization is one of Johnson’s well-publicized endeavors.

“Legislatures around the country are embracing CBD (cannabidiol) because it doesn’t contain the Boogie Man THC (tetrahydrocannabinol),” Johnson said. “CBD is one of 85 cannabinoids in the (marijuana) plant. THC is one of 85 cannabinoids in the plant.”

He said he was talking to a researcher recently that relayed a story about a 13-year old epilepsy patient who was having 300 seizures a week. The patient was treated with CBD and the seizures went down to 30 per week and then eventually down to two per week, but when the patient was treated with the whole marijuana plant, the seizures went away entirely.

“This is anecdotal and the research and the development to go along with (that) needs to happen,” Johnson said. “So, if I were to go to Washington, I would be shouting from the rooftops to declassify marijuana as a Class 1 narcotic allowing for that research and that development.”

Johnson believes that recreational marijuana will be legalized in New Mexico soon.

“If (marijuana) were legal in New Mexico, I believe that it would create 30,000 jobs,” he said. “I base that on other states where it has been legalized.”

Johnson does not discuss his opponents publicly as he would rather face them in a debate.

“I think (the race) is bigger than my opponents,” Johnson said. “What I’m talking about is something that I’m going to be able to deliver on. I think people are hungry to vote for somebody as opposed to the lesser of two evils which seems to be every single campaign we witness these days.”

The decision to run came unexpectedly, Johnson said.

Aubrey Dunn called Johnson to say he was planning on dropping out of the race for U.S. Senator.

“(He) came to me about eight weeks ago and said, ‘I’m thinking about dropping out and I’d like you to consider being my replacement because I think you can win!’”

The position of U.S. Senator is not a position Johnson takes lightly.

“It’s a job that’s all about bellying up to the trough and that is not something that this country needs right now,” Johnson said. “What we need right now is to balance the federal budget, cut the size and scope of the federal government. So, what’s at stake here is not bellying up to the trough but what is potentially being the swing vote in the U.S. Senate which would be huge for New Mexico.”