Once again, a former Libertarian Presidential candidate has departed the Libertarian party. Gary Johnson endorsed the Republican candidate for Governor of New Mexico. There is a Libertarian in the race. Karen Bedonie is polling at 5.2%.
https://www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/gary-johnson-libertarian-new-mexico/2022/10/31/id/1094172/
https://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=8d722283-9c27-47db-879f-1dd9e8316438
The Johnson-Weld campaign was condemned by the Mises Caucus as not libertarian enough. Johnson has a right to support whoever he wants. If you ask most Mises devotees, they are Alt-Right Trumpers.
Did Gov. Johnson actually resign from the party?
Or is he just following the intuitive LIO voting for deadlock strategy if no suitable libertarian is available? Plus as a Gov. he is dealing with different parameters.
To be fair, within the Nolan 6 ongoing goals, LP State parties (unless there’re ballot access/tactical reasons) were as able intended to focus on 3 things:
1) Installing Direct Democracy as in Florida,than building by initiatives as open ballot access.
2) Running a full slate of State House candidates every decade or so ON THE SAME simple issue (putting in direct democracy is one)…This also shows indisputable aggregate voter support. This allows better negotiation if they get the names by info booths at polling stations. It lays the foundation for other things.
3) Regular press releases and local /school talks praising libertarian tools and local progress, training/educating, and building coalitions.
Until they focus on that they have little to complain about. Again, as able. What is NM doing?
The Libertarian Party scene is getting confusing.
NewFederalist appears to be correct about the nominee of The Libertarian Party. I have looked at her website where she identifies herself as a “conservative” and identifies her issues. There is an overlap of conservative and libertarian views – less taxation, educational choice, less government, medical freedom.
But she also favors building a wall on the border, an election audit, and she is anti-abortion.
Gary Johnson is pro-choice and does not support building the wall. Many people have questioned election integrity over the years, including John Kerry supporters in 2004, but mentioning election integrity these days usually indicates sympathy for Donald Trump.
It is likely that Gary Johnson does not take the Libertarian candidate seriously, in addition to the disagreements noted. It is also possible that Gary Johnson knows the Republican candidate personally, and probably does not know Ms Bedonie, the nominee of The Libertarian Party.
The website of Mark Ronchetti, the Republican nominee, has an announcement of Gary Johnson’s endorsement, identifying him as a former Goverrnor and as the 2016 Libertarian nominee for President. https://markronchetti.com/breaking-former-governor-gary-johnson-endorses-mark-ronchetti/
The Republican nominee is not a libertarian, and his stand on crime issues is similar to other Republicans. I don’t know how I would vote if I lived in New Mexico, but given the context of the race, Gary Johnson supporting the Republican candidate does not necessarily indicate he has quit The Libertarian Party. We all make imperfect decisions in an imperfect political climate.
Unfortunately, there is no libertarian in this race. The Libertarian nominee is a Republican who change registration after dropping out of the GOP gubernatorial primary race. She is much more of a Trump Republican than the GOP nominee is in my opinion. The incumbent Democratic governor is such an autocrat that the desire to go for the lesser of three evils is understandable but still disappointing.