Gary Johnson, the likely 2016 Libertarian Party nominee for President, has chosen fellow Republican governor William “Bill” Weld as his running mate in a move that may bring more visibility to the once-un-viable third-party ticket.
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The revelation that Koch has pledged significant financial support to the Johnson campaign came just hours after Johnson announced a running mate who may assist in securing additional funding from another billionaire.
A source close to Koch did not deny the agreement, The Daily Caller reports, but also did not comment.
“Reports that we are supporting or considering supporting any third party presidential candidate are false”, Philip Ellender, a spokesman for the Kochs, told CBS. For that, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a former Republican, announced two weeks ago that he joined the Libertarian Party so that he might run for vice president. However, the Libertarian Party is already set to be on the ballot in all 50 states, and Johnson and Weld are not expected to have any challengers for the party’s nomination.
“We got together and shook hands on it”, Johnson told the AP in an interview in Salt Lake City, where his presidential campaign is based. “It brings an enormous amount of credibility to what it is I’m doing”. Although a recent Monmouth University poll found Johnson to be an “unknown commodity”, with 76 percent of respondents saying they didn’t know enough about the Libertarian to put forth an opinion, he took 11 percent of the vote in a hypothetical match-up against Trump and Clinton.
But they’ve so far shied away from spending any money at the presidential level because network officials and the Kochs are unhappy with both major party nominees. “I’m unbelievably flattered by this and humbled”, he said, adding that Weld’s “huge influence” in fundraising could boost his bid.
Johnson represented New Mexico for two terms as governor. Johnson said in a CNN interview. Meanwhile, Ron Nielson, Johnson’s campaign manager, said the part would not confirm donor commitments before the convention, and wanted the website to reveal its unnamed source. “Huge. That was something that he in fact volunteered – that he enjoys doing it”.
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The pair met privately in Las Vegas over the weekend when Weld agreed to run as Johnson’s running mate in the party’s upcoming nominating convention and into the general election. He is pro-choice and approves of same-sex marriage.
