Libertarian presidential candidate gains endorsement, loses lawsuit

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson has had a weekend of ups and downs. On Saturday, he was endorsed by a soon-to-retire Republican congressman. On Friday, Johnson’s federal lawsuit to gain a slot in the nationally televised presidential debates was dismissed.

Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va., told The New York Times on Saturday he planned to vote for Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, for president.

“I’ve always said that I will not vote for Hillary Clinton and I will not vote for Donald Trump,” Rigell, who will retire from Congress at the end of his current term, told the Times. “I’m going to vote for the Libertarian candidate.”

Meanwhile, Johnson, who has been courting Republicans dissatisfied with the party’s nominee, Trump, had sued the Commission on Presidential Debates in September, trying to gain spots in the presidential debates.

Johnson and presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein filed the lawsuit jointly, arguing that their exclusion from the debates breached antitrust laws and their First Amendment rights.

Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer dismissed the lawsuit.

Under the commission’s eligibility requirements, Johnson could still secure a debate spot if he draws the support of 15 percent of polled voters in five national surveys a few weeks before the debate.

In a speech Saturday at the University of Utah with his running mate, William Weld, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, Johnson framed the election as a choice between two polarizing candidates from the major political parties.

“What if you elect a couple of moderates, a couple of former governors?” Johnson asked in the talk, broadcast live on Periscope.

Contact Christian Bertolaccini at cbertolaccini@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Follow @bertolaccinic on Twitter.