Legal Marijuana Now Party

The Minnesota Grassroots Party was formed in 1986 as a response to Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs.[5][2] In 1996 the party split, with some former members forming the Independent Grassroots Party for one election cycle.[2]

In 1998, members of the Independent Grassroots Party formed the Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now political party.[2] The party's name, according to Yippie Oliver Steinberg, a Grassroots Party founder, is attributed Dan Vacek saying "call it the Legal Marijuana Now Party and then every vote we get will be a referendum. Every vote we get will be indisputable evidence that there’s a voter that wants legal marijuana."[2][6]

The Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party petitioned to be recognized as a major political party. To make the ballot, Legal Marijuana NOW Party needed valid signatures equal to at least one-percent of the total votes cast for governor in 2014, or 5,397 signatures statewide.[7] In July, 2016, volunteers turned in 9,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State. However, the Secretary of State said that half of the signatures were invalid, verifying only 4,353 signatures and falling short of the 5,397 needed.[8] After failing to make it onto Nebraska ballots in 2016, the party began circulating petitions for 2020 ballot access for a Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party in September, 2016.[9] The party planned to collect 15,000 signatures for their second attempt at gaining ballot access.[10]

Legal Marijuana Now Party at the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, April 20, 2016

In 2014, Dan Vacek ran for Minnesota Attorney General as the Legal Marijuana Now candidate and got 57,604 votes, qualifying the party to be officially recognized and to receive public funding from the state.[11]

Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now nominated candidates by petition to appear on the ballot for the November 6, 2018 election.[12] Their candidate for State Auditor, Michael Ford, received 5.3% of the vote qualifying the party to be an official major party in the state. This gave Legal Marijuana Now candidates ballot access without having to petition.[13]

In 2020, the Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now candidate for United States Senator received 190,154 votes, more than any other such third-party candidate in the U.S.[14] During the 2020 election campaign, Democratic Party leaders said that the Legal Marijuana Now Party made it harder for Democratic candidates to win in Minnesota.[15] A St. Cloud Times analysis of votes cast in the 2020 general election in Minnesota found that Legal Marijuana Now candidates might have helped DFL candidates in swing districts, by pulling a larger number of votes from Republican candidates.[16]

Paula Overby was nominated by Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now Party, in 2022, to run for U.S. Representative from the 2nd congressional district. Overby, an information technology director, had previously been nominated by Legal Marijuana Now for the 2nd district, in 2020, after candidate Adam Weeks' untimely death. Overby's platform included marijuana legalization and universal Medicare.[17][18][19] On October 5, 2022, Overby died during recovery in a hospital following emergency surgery for a heart valve condition.[20] Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon stated that Overby's name would remain on the ballot, and the election would go ahead as scheduled.[21] Without remedy for replacing their deceased nominee, under state law, Legal Marijuana Now Party encouraged supporters to cast their votes for Overby. The dead candidate won 10,728 votes in the race.[22]

Scholars have credited the work of Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now with motivating the state Democratic Party to prioritize cannabis legalization, in 2023.[23][24]

Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW supporter with cannabis peace flag at rally in Omaha, April 20, 2018

On April 21, 2021, Legal Marijuana NOW gained official recognition as a state political party in Nebraska, earning the party ballot access for their candidates, and allowing Legal Marijuana NOW Party to register voters.[4]

Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party ran more candidates for statewide offices, in 2022, than the Nebraska Democratic Party recruited.[25] Larry Bolinger was nominated by Legal Marijuana NOW to run for Nebraska Attorney General in 2022. Bolinger, who entered public work by serving a term on the Alliance Planning Commission, focused on legalization of marijuana and expanding drug courts.[26][27]

In the 2022 race, Bolinger received 188,648 votes, more than 30 percent, the highest percentage for a statewide Nebraska candidate running outside the two major parties in 86 years, when independent George Norris was reelected to U.S. Senate, in 1936.[28] Bolinger was one of the top two third party vote-getters, in the US, in 2022.[29]

In 2016, Legal Marijuana Now placed their presidential candidates, Dan Vacek and Mark Elworth, on the ballot in two states, Iowa[3] and Minnesota.[30] And as a write-in candidate nationwide.

Rudy Reyes was nominated by the Legal Marijuana Now Party, in 2020, to run for Vice-president of the United States, but the campaign was postponed until 2024.[31]

Grassroots organizations are associated with bottom-up rather than top-down decision making. The Legal Marijuana Now Party seeks to engage ordinary people in political discourse to the greatest extent possible.[7][47]

All decisions on important organizational and financial subjects must be reached by a leadership Head Council, which consists of Legal Marijuana Now Party members with at least three consecutive years participation in the party and officers elected by the members at an annual convention held in June.[45]