What's good about Gary Johnson?
His platform emphasized tax cuts, job creation, state government spending growth restraint, and law and order.
As governor, Johnson followed a strict small government approach.
"Any time someone approached him about legislation for some purpose, his first response always was to ask if government should be involved in that to begin with."
He vetoed 200 of 424 bills in his first six months in office – a national record of 48% of all legislation – and used the line-item veto on most remaining bills. In office, Johnson fulfilled his campaign promise to reduce the 10% annual growth of the state budget.
In 1999, Johnson became one of the highest-ranking elected officials in the United States to advocate the legalization of marijuana. Saying the War on Drugs was "an expensive bust," he advocated the decriminalization of marijuana use
Johnson's accomplishments in office were described as follows: "no tax increases in six years, a major road building program, shifting Medicaid to managed care, constructing two new private prisons, canning 1,200 state employees, and vetoing a record number of bills."
According to one New Mexico paper, "Johnson left the state fiscally solid," and was "arguably the most popular governor of the decade . . . leaving the state with a $1 billion budget surplus."
During his tenure as governor, Johnson adhered to an anti-tax and anti-bureaucracy policy, setting state and national records for his use of veto powers: more than the other 49 contemporary governors put together. Term-limited, Johnson could not run for re-election at the end of his second term. As a fitness enthusiast, Johnson has taken part in several Ironman Triathlons, and he climbed Mount Everest in May 2003.
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