SALT LAKE CITY — He has virtually no money, no strategy to compete in battleground states and no plan to stop talking about his drug use.
Yet with the Republican Party facing the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson could be a factor in 2016. The former two-term New Mexico governor, a Republican businessman perhaps best known for his yearslong push to legalize marijuana, has a sobering message for a “never-Trump” movement desperately seeking a viable alternative.
“I will be the only third-party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states,” Johnson says. “I’m it.”
He is not their top choice, and he must first clinch the Libertarian nomination at this weekend’s national convention, but he may be the GOP’s best, last chance to stop a New York billionaire some fear is destroying the soul of their party.
The Trump haters have struggled to convince other third-party prospects to join the presidential contest. They’ve courted the likes of 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and retired Marine Corps General James Mattis to no avail.
And with ballot access deadlines already starting to pass, some say Johnson is beginning to look like the most viable alternative, even if he earned just 1 percent of the national vote in the last presidential contest.
He strengthened his position this week by adding running mate William Weld, a well-respected former Massachusetts governor. They represent one of the strongest Libertarian tickets in memory.
“To be clear, the reports of the death of the non-Libertarian third-party effort are greatly exaggerated. I understand there are still plenty of irons in the fire,” said conservative columnist Quin Hillyer, who has vowed not to support Trump this fall.
Johnson’s longshot campaign is based in Salt Lake City, home to his most trusted political adviser and in a state where Trump finished a distant third place in March’s primary. The local presence of Johnson’s headquarters was a surprise to many Utah state legislators who met with the him inside the statehouse last week.
A handful of lawmakers in both parties were receptive.
“Utah understands how dangerous Trump is,” said Howard Stephenson, a Republican state senator who had warm words for Johnson.
Johnson’s strategy is simple.
With just $35,000 in his coffers at the end of March, he doesn’t have the money for TV ads, poll-tested messaging, or a paid presence in battleground states where Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are already beginning to invest resources.
Johnson is instead relying on an intensifying schedule of media appearances to boost name recognition in an effort to reach the 15 percent needed to qualify for the fall presidential debates.
“We cannot go into a battleground state and compete,” said Johnson’s senior strategist Ron Nielson, citing the high cost of running a campaign in states like Florida or Ohio.
The campaign will instead focus on cheaper states where libertarians have done well in the past.
Yet Trump’s Republican critics don’t necessarily need to find a candidate who can win. Many seek a legitimate protest candidate where they could focus their anti-Trump energy. Should that candidate earn even a few points in key states this fall, it could hurt Trump’s chances.