Former New Mexico Governor Gary
Johnson, a Republican and a supporter of gay marriage, will run for
president, POLITICO.com reported.
Johnson, a libertarian Republican who
believes in limited government, will announce his run in April.
The 58-year-old Johnson has been
traveling the country as the spokesperson for Our America Initiative,
a non-profit group devoted to the principles of limited government.
His stops in Iowa and New Hampshire have prompted questions about a
2012 presidential bid.
According to POLITICO.com, Johnson will
skip an exploratory phase and immediately begin campaigning for the
GOP nomination.
Johnson believes government should not
intervene in the private lives of individual citizens unnecessarily.
“Government shouldn't be involved in
our lives,” Johnson says in an Our America Initiative video. “It
should protect us from individuals that might do us harm. But
government should really be out of our lives for the most part. Let
us enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we have. Let us be the
individuals that we might want to be.”
But while various sources, including
Fox News, POLITICO.com and the New Mexico Independent, report
that Johnson is a “strong” supporter of gay marriage, his own
website disagrees.
A page devoted to civil rights at the
Our America Initiative website notes that “Governor Johnson does
support gay and civil unions. However, he does not support gay
marriage.”