PORTSMOUTH — Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson is coming to Portsmouth on Friday for a "meet-and-greet" with voters.

PORTSMOUTH — Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson is coming to Portsmouth on Friday for a "meet-and-greet" with voters.



Johnson, the governor of New Mexico from 1994 to 2003, is described on his Web site as the "most fiscally conservative governor" in the country. He claims to have cut taxes 14 times and issued more than 750 vetoes in his time in office.



His libertarian philosophies attracted the attention of supporters like Scott and Charlotte McPherson, who volunteered to host Friday's event, which is open to the public, at their home at 229 Leslie Drive, from 6 to 9 p.m.



"We're very excited about having Gov. Johnson in our home," Scott McPherson said. He expressed support for Johnson's fiscal stances, his belief in "bringing the troops home right now" and his approach to the war on drugs, including his desire to legalize marijuana and examine the legalization of other drugs.



McPherson said he has invited a "broad spectrum" of guests, including officials with the Portsmouth and Rockingham County Republicans, Seacoast Peace Response and some "hard-core Democrats."



Andy Smith, the director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said Johnson has an uphill climb to get the Republican nod. In polls of likely Republican primary voters since April 2010, "essentially zero" percent of respondents have said they were likely to vote for him.



"The highest he ever bumped up to was 2 percent in October of last year," Smith said.



Sixty-six percent of those polled in April said they have "no idea" who Johnson is, while 9 percent offered favorable opinions and 14 percent offered unfavorable opinions, he said.



"He's in that tier of candidates who are just unknown to people in New Hampshire," Smith said, saying Johnson will have to do significant fund-raising and door-to-door campaigning to gain notoriety.