Gary Johnson expected to switch to Libertarian Party

Longshot Republican candidate Gary Johnson is to declare he will run for president with the Libertarian Party. The former New Mexico governor is holding a noon news conference in his home state to make the announcement. He appeared in just two debates and complained in a recent interview the Republican party "hung me out to dry". A recent poll suggested he could take votes from a Republican nominee as a third-party candidate, helping Barack Obama win a second term next year. That same survey found another Republican candidate, Ron Paul, could draw an even larger share of the vote from the party's eventual nominee if he switched to an independent candidacy. Frozen out and frustrated Texas Congressman Paul, who has refused publicly to countenance the idea of a third-party bid, shares some of Mr Johnson's libertarian-leaning views. Mr Johnson, a popular two-term governor of New Mexico, supports liberal causes such as legalising marijuana and abortion rights. But he supports abolishing the Department of Education and drastically reducing the scope of the Internal Revenue Service, including scrapping the corporate income tax. As governor, he set records for vetoing legislation, left the south-western state with a budget surplus and fired over 1,000 state employees. Mr Johnson's frustration with being frozen out of televised Republican debates came to a head in mid-November. After being barred from several debates based on requirements set by each host, the Johnson campaign complained to the federal election watchdog. His performance in national polls has been generally low, and in some cases Mr Johnson's name was not on the list of potential Republican candidates. If, as expected, he runs as a Libertarian, he would have to win over the six current registered candidates for the party's nomination. But Mr Johnson continued to pay dues to the Libertarian party while serving as the Republican governor, and would be the highest profile of the current Libertarian candidates.