Did the GOP use fraudulent candidates to control the Minnesota state Senate?
The Republican Party currently maintains a majority in the MN Senate by a single vote: 35-34.
It appears they leveraged the growing popularity of two marijuana parties to hold on to power.
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The Republican Party currently maintains a majority in the MN Senate by a single vote: 35-34.
It appears they leveraged the growing popularity of two marijuana parties to hold on to power.
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In 2018, two marijuana legalization parties broke the popularity barrier to achieve Major Party status under MN state law.
This allowed them to appear on statewide ballots without needing to collect signatures - but it also meant they lost control over who ran under their name.
This allowed them to appear on statewide ballots without needing to collect signatures - but it also meant they lost control over who ran under their name.
Leading up to the 2020 election, as early as June, MN journalists were seeing a trend - candidates running for Senate under these two parties, who had no experience, weren’t even particularly active on the issue, and who appeared to be quite Republican.
minnesotareformer.com/2020/06/15/som…
minnesotareformer.com/2020/06/15/som…
By mid-October, there were “no less than 25 state legislative candidates representing the Legalize Marijuana Now Party and the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party.”
There were a few red flags, to put it mildly.
leafly.com/news/politics/…
There were a few red flags, to put it mildly.
leafly.com/news/politics/…
A close look at five state Senate races shows that, in three of those races the third party candidates had no impact.
A fourth was won by the Democratic candidate, narrowly.
A fourth was won by the Democratic candidate, narrowly.
But in a fifth race, the scheme may have paid off.
Tyler Becvar, a Republican who portrayed himself as a Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate, received 2,699 votes.
The Dem incumbent in that race lost to his Republican challenger by 1,818 votes.
leafly.com/news/politics/…
Tyler Becvar, a Republican who portrayed himself as a Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate, received 2,699 votes.
The Dem incumbent in that race lost to his Republican challenger by 1,818 votes.
leafly.com/news/politics/…
Note: These are only the ones we are aware of.
Just today, we learned that an RNC operative tricked a blind MN veteran into (unsuccessfully) running for a cannabis party, to siphon votes in a US House race.
Even paid his filing fee.
h/t @SonnyinSeattle_
rawstory.com/disabled-veter…
Just today, we learned that an RNC operative tricked a blind MN veteran into (unsuccessfully) running for a cannabis party, to siphon votes in a US House race.
Even paid his filing fee.
h/t @SonnyinSeattle_
rawstory.com/disabled-veter…
It’s worth noting that the GOP has used the Green Party in similar ways in Presidential elections.
In Alaska, the Green Party nominated Jesse Ventura - “libertarian” - as its POTUS candidate, two months before the election.
Thread also contains similar actions in other states:
In Alaska, the Green Party nominated Jesse Ventura - “libertarian” - as its POTUS candidate, two months before the election.
Thread also contains similar actions in other states:
https://twitter.com/clearing_fog/status/1305935999625621505
As another aside, for anyone who isn’t familiar, this was done in at least three Florida state senate races as well.
These were even more egregious, and at least one of them appears to have violated campaign finance laws.
These were even more egregious, and at least one of them appears to have violated campaign finance laws.
https://twitter.com/clearing_fog/status/1327074076519669761
Not to mention the fact that Republican operatives helped Kanye West get on the ballot in multiple states
(Jared Kushner even met with Kanye to discuss it, at the height of the pandemic that Kushner was supposed to be managing).
(Jared Kushner even met with Kanye to discuss it, at the height of the pandemic that Kushner was supposed to be managing).
https://twitter.com/clearing_fog/status/1290859136649814016
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