Gary Johnson

Elected Experience: Gov. of New Mexico, 1995-2003

Other Professional Experience: Despite his two terms as Governor, Gary Johnson still prefers to call himself an entrepreneur. To pay for college, he started a door-to-door handyman business. Twenty years later, the one-man-shop had grown into one of the largest construction companies in New Mexico, with more than 1,000 employees.

Education: B.S., University of New Mexico

Community Service: Governor Johnson has been and remains involved in a range of volunteer activities and organizations both in his home state of New Mexico and nationally. Areas of particular interest involve drug policy reform and environmental stewardship.

Bill Weld

Elected Experience: Gov. of Massachusetts, 1991-1997

Other Professional Experience: Assistant US Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, 1981-1986. Staff member in both houses of Congress.

Education: Harvard Law School (JD, cum laude); Harvard College (BA, summa cum laude); Oxford University (DegreeEP, with distinction)

Community Service: Throughout his career, Governor Weld has been involved in many civic and national organizations.

Statement: Gary Johnson is no stranger to taking on partisan political forces. He was elected Governor of New Mexico as a Republican in an overwhelming Democratic state - and re-elected to a second term by a wide margin despite being challenged by a popular and well-known Democrat.

As a businessman, Gary Johnson ran for Governor with no prior political resume other than his college political science degree and a passion for helping people.

Gary Johnson has always believed that good public policy should be based on a practical cost/benefit analysis, rather than strict ideology.

Johnson is best known for resisting the temptation to solve every problem with government spending and regulation, having vetoed more than 750 bills during his time in office - probably more than all other governors combined. He also cut taxes 14 times while never raising them. He balanced the state's budget, and left New Mexico with a billion-dollar surplus.

Yet, despite cutting taxes and the size of government, he improved New Mexico schools, executed a major infrastructure overhaul, and earned national accolades for his leadership in handling the devastating Cerro Grande Fire that swept across the state in 2000.

An avid skier, adventurer, ironman, and bicyclist, Gary Johnson has scaled the highest peak on each of the seven continents, including Mt. Everest.