Libertarian V.P. pick: Former O.C. Judge Gray May 8th, 2012, 12:39 pm posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

Jim Gray

Gary Johnson got the expected nod as the Libertarian Party presidential nominee while longtime drug reform activist and retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray was confirmed as Johnsons running mate at the partys convention last weekend in Las Vegas.

Johnson said he expects to be the only third-party ticket on the ballot in all 50 states. But the former New Mexico governor, who started the election cycle as a Republican presidential candidate, has rebutted the suggestion he could cost Mitt Romney close states.

You know, all of those Romney supporters that are ardent marriage-equality advocates?, Johnson, who favors legalization of gay marriage, told the Daily Caller. All those pot smokers that are for Romney? Nah, I dont buy it.

Gray, whom Johnson had previously mentioned as his preferred running mate, is hardly new to the political arena himself.

Gray ran as a Republican for the House of Representatives in 1998, losing in the primary as Bob Dornan advanced to the general but failed to win back his seat from Loretta Sanchez. Gray ran as a Libertarian for U.S. Senate in 2004 and helped lead the failed 2010 campaign for Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana for recreational use in California.

Johnson also supports legalized marijuana, but his differences from Romney and Barack Obama hardly end there. He attacks both for not being what they say they are criticizing Romneys plan to cut the budget as unrealistic given his spending priorities and criticizing Obama on civil liberties.

Marriage equality, getting out of the wars, getting out of Afghanistan he doubled down on Afghanistan drug reform, signing the National Defense Authorization Act with the caveat that now you and I as U.S. citizens can now be detained without being charged, he said in a New York Times Q&A.

He says his positions are similar to those of Ron Paul, noting that Pauls support has doubled since two years ago.

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Libertarian VP pick: Former O.C. Judge Gray