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President Gary Johnson? It’s More Possible Than Anyone Is Telling Us, Thanks To The Electoral College

Published on: September 22, 2016 at 3:19 PM
By Dawn Papple

If Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson could earn the electoral votes from just one, single liberty-loving state, the governor of New Mexico could be the next person to sit in the Oval Office. Here’s how it would work.

“A successful candidate must earn more than 50 percent of the electoral votes awarded by individual states on election night — that means 270 votes in total,” The Fiscal Times reported this summer . Given the close race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it is possible for the electoral votes to become diluted just enough by a third party candidate that neither Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would get over 50 percent of the electoral votes.

Electoral votes are distributed at the state level, and most states are winner-takes-all. The exceptions are Maine and Nebraska. If Clinton and Trump were almost tied in electoral votes, one single, defiant state could cause Gary Johnson to be a very viable option.

If Gary Johnson supporters were to focus their efforts on just a couple of targeted states, and neither of the two main candidates achieves a majority of electoral votes, according to the National Archives , the House of Representatives elects the President by choosing from one of the top three candidates .

What happens then?

The House of Representatives would then have to choose between Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Gary Johnson.

How likely is it that the election would be that close? According to the latest information, Trump and Clinton are neck-and-neck in electoral votes. Gary Johnson is on the ballot in every single state. An NBC/Survey Monkey poll showed Gary Johnson leading both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton among Independents.

Gary Johnson previously did best in New Mexico, Montana, and Alaska. Looking at those three states, they are also among the states where Republicans least favor Trump. According to Five Thirty Eight , Johnson’s poll projections have been as high as nearly 19 percent in his home state of New Mexico. In Montana, Johnson’s poll projections reached over 16 percent this summer. In Alaska, he has polled at around 14 percent. Los Angeles Times says that his numbers are rising in Arizona as well.

While behind nationally in the polls, if Libertarians could focus their efforts on one of these states, Gary Johnson could throw the entire election and send the decision to the House.

Libertarian voters might not want to trust their representatives to choose the next president, but the Republican majority in the House aren’t happy with Trump , according to The Atlantic. It’s also abundantly clear that the House does not support Hillary Clinton. After all, they keep trying to hook her up with a prison cell.

Gary Johnson, an experienced, fiscally conservative politician might seem increasingly appealing to the conservative electors that make up the House of Representatives. Sure, they might have to live with legalized marijuana and tolerate gay marriages, but their oil company lobbyists wouldn’t have to worry about new environmental restrictions, and they wouldn’t have to worry about Trump decimating their party or the entire Middle East. Plus, as a bonus, they’d have a fairly conservative President who will be allowed to visit the U.K. and even the Philippines .

“With a majority of Americans wanting a choice other than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, today we now know for certain that on Election Day, every voter in America will have that alternative option,” Johnson said in a press release in mid-September. “And today we also know that the only other option on every American voter’s ballot will be myself and Weld.”

A Quinnipiac poll found that 62 percent of voters want Gary Johnson to be included in the presidential debates, according to the Libertarian’s press release.

[Featured Image by Gage Skidmore / Flickr ]

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