Gary Johnson picks up his first congressional backer

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is expected to speak in Albuquerque this week.

Earlier this week, the NY representative Richard Hanna became the first Republican elected to Congress to endorse Clinton, writing in an op-ed that he considers Trump “deeply flawed in endless ways”. That rally turned violent and caused thousands of dollars of damage.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Rigell came out in support of Gary Johnson, who is the Libertarian candidate for president.

Libertarians including Johnson are pushing for reduced spending and taxes, saying the federal government has gotten too big across the board.

And major GOP donor Meg Whitman announced earlier this week she’ll support Clinton over Trump as well. The Libertarian’s Vice presidential running mate is also a former Republican governor, William Weld of MA.

The Virginian said he knew that Johnson faced an uphill battle for the presidency. The Johnson/Gray ticket received 0.99% of the popular vote, amounting to 1.27 million votes, more than all other minor candidates combined. With Trump and Clinton both involved in multiple scandals and campaign mishaps, voters have become increasingly interested in a third-party option – and more specifically in the candidacy of the former two-term governor.

Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, remains a Republican writ large, but with his announcement over the weekend that he’ll vote Libertarian rather than support Donald Trump, Rigell no longer lived up to all of the Virginia Beach GOP rules.

Even young Republican voters are turned off by Trump.

Johnson has also maintained that he will have a shot at taking up residence in the White House if he appears on the debate stage with Trump and Clinton.

But Johnson leapt from 10 percent in June to 16 percent in the new poll, conducted July 18-Aug.

Party bylaws frown upon public pronouncements against Republican candidates.

Last year, Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein joined together in a lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates, alleging the commission actively kept third party candidates out of national debates.