RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Richmond-Times Dispatch is endorsing Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson for president.

In a lengthy editorial posted late Saturday night, the newspaper said the former New Mexico governor is a man of “good integrity, apparently normal ego and sound ideas.” Johnson met with the newspaper’s editorial board last week.

The Times-Dispatch added that Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton fail to meet the moral and professional standards Americans should expect.

The editorial calls for the Commission on Presidential Debates to allow Johnson to join Trump and Clinton on stage. The debates are scheduled to begin Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

Johnson served as New Mexico’s governor for two terms. He also owned a construction company that had more than 1,000 employees.</s>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Richmond-Times Dispatch is endorsing Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson for president.

In a lengthy editorial posted late Saturday night, the newspaper said the former New Mexico governor is a man of “good integrity, apparently normal ego and sound ideas.” Johnson met with the newspaper’s editorial board last week.

The Times-Dispatch added that Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton fail to meet the moral and professional standards Americans should expect.

The editorial calls for the Commission on Presidential Debates to allow Johnson to join Trump and Clinton on stage. The debates are scheduled to begin Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

Johnson served as New Mexico’s governor for two terms. He also owned a construction company that had more than 1,000 employees.</s>A prominent Virginia newspaper has endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson for president, giving a rebuke to the deeply unpopular major party candidates while trying to boost the third party contender's long-shot bid just weeks before the first presidential debate.

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch's endorsement is the first from a major newspaper for the former New Mexico governor, who is running out of time to reach the polling threshold necessary to join Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the main debate stage this fall.

"Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president," the editorial begins. "Fortunately, there is a reasonable -- and formidable -- alternative."

The paper, which has endorsed the Republican nominee for president every year for the last three decades, hailed Johnson's stances for limited government, social tolerance and individual freedom.

"More important, he's a man of good integrity, apparently normal ego and sound ideas," the editorial reads.

Still, Johnson must reach an average of 15 percent support in major polling in order to make the debate stage -- a threshold that Johnson himself has framed as make-or-break for landing his third-party candidacy in the White House.

"If the Commission on Presidential Debates wants to perform a real service to its country, it will invite Gary Johnson onto the big stage," wrote the paper's editorial board. "Why not take this chance to reject the binary choice between Clinton and Trump that was created by our two-party system?"

Johnson is currently polling around 10 percent in an average of polls that the debate commission will use.

Johnson has the backing of only one sitting member of the U.S. House -- with no sitting senators or governors. Other potential supporters like former Republican nominee Mitt Romney have remained on the sidelines.</s>Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson won his first newspaper endorsement from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which labeled him a man of "integrity," "apparently normal ego" and of "trustworthy character."

"Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president," the paper's editorial board wrote. "Fortunately, there is a reasonable — and formidable — alternative."

The Times-Dispatch supported Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008. But in this election, the editorial board urged voters to reject the two major-party nominees and support Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, and called on the commission overseeing presidential debates to include Johnson.

"If given the opportunity to make his case, Gary Johnson will persuade millions of Americans that he is the most capable and ethical candidate running this year," the board wrote.</s>Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson received the endorsement of a prominent Virginia paper in an editorial posted Saturday night, notching a Labor Day weekend win for his third party bid.

The glowing appraisal of Johnson's candidacy by the Richmond Times-Dispatch's editorial board contrasts the former New Mexico governor with Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton, both of whom lack the proper character traits to be president, the paper said.

"Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president," the editorial board writes.

The editorial board's backing of Johnson is also a break in its partisan leanings, as it has endorsed Republican candidates in every presidential election for the past 36 years.

Johnson performed poorly in Virginia during his 2012 effort, securing less than one percent of the state's vote . The ex-governor has said he hopes to break out this year due to the low favorability ratings for Trump and Clinton, and the paper followed that line of thinking.

The editorial also called for Johnson to join the nationally-televised debates alongside Trump and Clinton. The former governor has said repeatedly that he needs to make the general election debates to have any realistic chance at the White House. The presidential debate commission requires a candidate to reach an average of 15 percent in the polls it has selected. Johnson must rapidly improve his position to meet this threshold. CNN's latest poll of polls found Johnson sitting at an average of 9 percent nationwide, and a Quinnipiac poll from mid-August had Johnson at 12 percent in Virginia.</s>If Hillary Clinton carries Arizona in November, there's a good chance it won't be because Democrats on their own have flipped a reliable GOP state they hope to win consistently someday.

Instead, Clinton and Democrats may have Gary Johnson to thank.

The Libertarian Party nominee's best chance to influence the presidential race may come in Arizona, where the former New Mexico governor appeals to a group of finicky conservatives who make up part of the GOP base.

"It could happen," said GOP Sen. Jeff Flake. "Donald Trump has managed to make this an interesting state in terms of presidential politics, and not in the way that Republicans have wanted."

Johnson "is an easy out for some people in our party," Flake told The Associated Press.

About a dozen of the most contested states will help determine which candidate gets the 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. In Arizona, where the Republican nominee has carried the state in 11 of the past 12 presidential elections, Johnson could play the spoiler, potentially putting 11 electoral votes in Clinton's column.

The GOP's recent struggle with independent-minded, small-government Libertarians was clear before Trump's speech Wednesday in Phoenix, when he reaffirmed a hard line on immigration. And his stance could alienate the roughly one-quarter of Hispanic voters in the state who usually align with Republicans.

"I think that right now we're at a tipping point, where at any moment we are going to begin to see an outpouring of support," said Latino GOP strategist Juan Hernandez, who works for Johnson in Arizona.

Sensing an opportunity herself, Clinton began airing television advertisements in the state Friday, and has reserved $500,000 in ad time through mid-September.

Democratic strategist Andy Barr said Hispanic turnout was "the multimillion-dollar question." About one-third of the state's population identifies as Latino, but their share of the vote ranges between 12 percent and 16 percent, according to public and private polling.

"This closer it gets to 20 percent, the more our chances of winning go up," Barr said.

Johnson will appear on the ballot in every state this fall, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein is on track to make it in at least half. Neither is remotely within reach of carrying a state. Neither seems in a position to tip any state toward Trump.

But Johnson could move a close race toward Clinton, in much the same way that Ralph Nader pulled enough votes away from Democrat Al Gore in 2000 to hand Florida to Republican George W. Bush.

Four years ago, Libertarian candidates in Arizona drew enough votes away from Republicans that Democrats Ann Kirkpatrick and Kyrsten Sinema won election to the U.S. House.

Flake, who had endeared himself to many Libertarians while serving in the House, won his Senate race that year, too.

"It's a really sore spot for the party," Arizona Republican Party spokesman Tim Sifert said of those 2012 results. "You could see people frustrated, throwing away their vote and going with a third-party candidate."

The views of most Libertarians, focused on personal liberty and small government, overlap more with Republicans than Democrats. Johnson's call for dramatically lower business taxes and regulation to unburden entrepreneurs resonates with Matthew Sherman of Phoenix, who describes himself as more as a conservative than as a Republican.

"I'm for whoever has the best plan on startup companies," said the 31-year-old who's working on a business networking app. "So far, that's Gary."

Republican Dave Richins, a councilman in Mesa City, said Johnson is conservative on spending, but tolerant on social issues, which he calls "a pragmatic combination."

"For me, a lifelong Republican, I don't agree with everything Johnson proposes," said Richins, a Johnson organizer. "But I find his pragmatism refreshing. That's how we get things done."

Johnson's hands-off approach to government also includes decriminalizing marijuana, and he could benefit from a November ballot proposal in Arizona on that question.

"That's another reason for Libertarians to vote in higher numbers," said Barr, who is running the decriminalization campaign. "We're inclined to believe that could increase Johnson's performance."

At the beginning of August, Johnson's campaign had $1.2 million after raising $1.6 million in July, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Since Aug. 1, he's raised more than $3 million, according to his campaign. That's a paltry sum compared with Trump and Clinton, whose campaign said it raised a total of $143 million last month.

Johnson is spending in a few competitive campaign states, including Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, and less competitive ones such as Oregon, New Mexico and Utah.

Arizona is not on that list, but aides say it likely will be this fall.

"As a New Mexican, he's fairly well known in Arizona," said Johnson's spokesman, Joe Hunter. "Arizona makes sense for us. We have a natural base of support there."
The Richmond Times-Dispatch of Virginia is first to endorse Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president and the first newspaper media endorsement of a third-party nominee in this election cycle.