Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now! Party

Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now! Party
AbbreviationLMN
ChairpersonDennis Schuller
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Preceded byIndependent Grassroots Party
HeadquartersMinneapolis
NewspaperFreedom Gazette
IdeologyMarijuana legalization
Colors  Green, Gold, Red
State Senate
0 / 67
State House
0 / 134
U.S. Senate
0 / 2
U.S. House
0 / 8
Website
www.legalmarijuananowparty.com

Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now! is a political third party in the U.S. state of Minnesota established in 1998 to oppose drug prohibition.[1][2] They are formally recognized as a minor party.[3]

Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now! became a major party in Minnesota in 2018 when their candidate for State Auditor, Michael Ford, received 5.3 percent of the vote.[4] During the 2010s the party began expansion attempts to other states, continuing during the 2020s, as the Legal Marijuana Now Party. They lost their major party status in a 2024 case with the Minnesota Supreme Court.

In 2020, the Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now! nominee for United States Senator received 190,154 votes in the November 3 election, the largest number of votes received in 2020, in the U.S., by any such third-party candidate.[5] Democrats have stated that Legal Marijuana Now! candidates are detrimental to the Democratic Party.[6] An analysis of votes cast in the 2020 Minnesota elections found that Legal Marijuana Now! candidates might have helped Democratic candidates in swing districts, by pulling a greater number of votes from Republican candidates.[7]

Scholars have credited Legal Marijuana Now! with motivating the Minnesota Democratic Party to prioritize cannabis legalization, in 2023.[8][9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Joint Ops was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Bloch, Emily (October 2, 2019). "Alternatives to the Two Major Political Parties, Explained". Teen Vogue.
  3. ^ "Political Parties". Elections and Voting. Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. June 21, 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference UofM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference OConnorBallotpedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Callaghan, Peter (July 20, 2022). "Marijuana advocates in Minnesota campaigning against legalization parties, infiltrators, in key swing districts". MinnPost. … a coalition to help DFLers in battleground races. Specifically, the MN Is Ready organization …
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference StCloudTimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Labovitch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Brooks, Jennifer (May 10, 2023). "After law, what's next for state's pot parties? When you fight for a cause, sometimes you win". Star Tribune.