Virginia newspaper endorses Gary Johnson

The editorial board’s backing of Johnson is also a break in its partisan leanings, as it has endorsed Republican candidates in every presidential election for the past 36 years.

Virginia polling puts Clinton well ahead of the pack in a four-way race that also includes Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

Students at Capital University near Columbus gathered for a rally that brought out a lot of young voters who have chose to support third party candidates such as the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson.

During his remarks, Johnson, who ran as the Libertarian Party’s 2012 presidential nominee, touted policies aimed at ensuring economic, racial and marriage equality with less government intrusion into people’s lives and more money in their pockets with a streamlined and simplified tax system.

Libertarian vice presidential nominee Bill Weld says the Commission on Presidential Debates could endanger its tax-exempt status by keeping the Libertarian ticket out of the debates.

Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, has polled 10 percent or more in some surveys.

The paper applauded Johnson’s business and political experience and encouraged voters in the swing state to give him a fair shot in the election and urged the commission that governs presidential debates to include him on stage. This is not what voters will see; they will see Mr. Johnson’s name on every ballot, along with others. “Sadly, in the 2016 presidential contest, those essential qualities make him an anomaly – though they are the foundations for solid leadership and trustworthy character”, the paper wrote.

This is the first time since 1980 that the newspaper hasn’t endorsed a Republican. To some, it seems Mr. Johnson is late in the game, but that’s because the major parties dominated the public eye during their primaries.