Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the 29th Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003. Johnson was the Libertarian Party nominee for the 2012 US presidential election. He is well known for his low-tax libertarian views. On December 28, 2011 Johnson, withdrew his Republican campaign for president and joined the Libertarian Party as its candidate.