Gary Johnson Wins Libertarian Party Presidential Nomination

The former New Mexico governor won 74 percent of the vote during the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.  Jim Gray, a retired Judge of the California Superior Court, was nominated to be Vice President.

Millions of Americans want and deserve the opportunity to vote for a candidate in November who will get us out of the war in Afghanistan immediately, truly cut federal spending, end the failed war on drugs, repeal the Patriot Act, and support marriage equality, Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson began his presidential run on the Republican ticket, but started pursuing the Libertarian Party's nomination in December after failing to pick up the name recognition and popularity to go far in the GOP Primary. 

His claim to fame in the mainstream news narrative was this zinger about Obama's shovel-ready jobs at the Fox/Google-sponsored GOP debate last September:

My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs that this current administration, Johnson told the audience.

In past elections, the Libertarian candidate has gotten a very small percentage of the vote. In 2008, Rep. Bob Barr, a former Congressman from Georgia, got 0.4 percent, while computer programmer and freelance Constitution teacher Michael Badnarik earned 0.3 percent of the vote in 2004.