Johnson is at 24 Percent in New Mexico, Leads Among Independents

Johnson Is Challenging Clinton and Trump

by Elias J. Atienza

Courtesy of Albuquerque Journal

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson may be lagging in national polls, but in crucial states, he is doing well. In a recent poll released by the Albuquerque Journal found Gary Johnson at 24 percent, just a scant 7 percent away from Trump, and 11 percent away from Clinton.

Johnson, the former New Mexico governor, is very popular in New Mexico. He holds the lead among independents, with 42 percent of New Mexican independents declaring their support for him, as compared to 26 percent for Clinton, 14 percent for Trump, and 6 percent for Stein. He also claimed the support of 23 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of Democrats polled, showing he is gaining from both parties.

In addition, Johnson is taking away Hispanic support from Clinton. Clinton just has 40 percent of Hispanics, a group she normally polls very high in. Johnson was the second highest, with 31 percent of New Mexican Hispanics supporting him. Only 18 percent of Hispanics said they would vote for Trump, and zero said they would vote for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate.

Johnson also pulled almost as much female support as Trump, with Trump at 27 percent and Johnson at 24 percent. Clinton had the most support from women, with 38 percent of women saying they would vote for her. Stein was hovering around 3 percent.

Among men, Trump lead with 38 percent while 31 percent said they would vote for Clinton. A quarter of men polled said they would support Johnson while Stein broke 2 percent.

It’s important to register how Johnson is doing in state by state. Johnson has reached 15 percent in important states such as New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Virginia.

Nate Silver of 538 wrote because of this poll, if Johnson won New Mexico and the election was tied:

“Each candidate might be able to make a claim to legitimacy, of sorts. Trump might argue that the outcome showed that voters had profoundly rejected the status quo — and what could be a bigger rejection of the status quo than a President Trump? But more importantly, he’d have a sympathetic audience, since Republicans are likely to control the majority of congressional delegations. Clinton would probably have won the popular vote in this scenario, since she’s more likely to win the popular vote while losing the Electoral College than the other way around, according to our forecast. And Johnson might try to position himself as some sort of compromise choice.”