Washington (CNN) Gary Johnson's poll numbers may not give him much-of-a shot at winning the presidency, but in the latest CNN\/ORC Poll, he is registering enough of a following to possibly tip the balance in an increasingly close election. <\/p>\n
Three percent of likely voters responded that they would vote for Johnson, the Libertarian Party's candidate for president, in November. That number is slightly higher among registered voters, with 4% identifying with the former governor of New Mexico.<\/p>\n
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The poll also finds that Johnson's inclusion, along with the Green Party's candidate Jill Stein, hurts Republican candidate Mitt Romney more than it does President Barack Obama. <\/p>\n
Obama leads Romney 52% to 46% when Romney and Obama are the only candidates in question, but Romney's support goes down three percentage points with the inclusion of the third party candidates. Obama's support only drops one point. <\/p>\n
\"The inclusion of the two minor-party candidates turns a six-point margin for President Obama into an eight-point lead,\" said Keating Holland, CNN's Polling Director. Since third party candidates are typically not on the ballot in all 50 states, those numbers can be slight deceiving when relating them to the support the candidates will receive on Election Day. <\/p>\n
Johnson, who first ran as a candidate for the Republican Party, dropped out of the Republican race and accepted the nomination from the Libertarian Party on May 5, 2012. <\/p>\n
The Johnson campaign says they don't see their candidacy as a Republican spoiler and argues that the Johnson's appeal is more important when looked at on a state-by-state. <\/p>\n
\"Generally, in places like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada,\" said Joe Hunter, Johnson campaign spokesperson, \"it appears that Governor Johnson's appeal comes from folks that supported Obama in 2008 and are now disillusioned with the president.\" <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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TRENDING: Spoiler alert: Poll finds small following for Libertarian candidate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Washington (CNN) Gary Johnson's poll numbers may not give him much-of-a shot at winning the presidency, but in the latest CNN\/ORC Poll, he is registering enough of a following to possibly tip the balance in an increasingly close election. Three percent of likely voters responded that they would vote for Johnson, the Libertarian Party's candidate for president, in November. Continue reading