Grassroots Party
| Grassroots Party | |
|---|---|
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| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | P.O. Box 8011 Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108 |
| Ideology | Grassroots democracy |
| Political position | Fiscal: Hemp for Victory! Lower taxes, higher taxpayers. Social: Re-legalize Cannabis, Civil-rights, Religious freedom. |
| Official colors | Green |
| Politics of the United States Political parties Elections |
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The Grassroots Party is a minor political party. It was created in the 1980s to oppose drug prohibition. The party shares the political leftist values of the Greens but with a greater emphasis on marijuana/hemp legalization issues.
Contents |
[edit] Platform
[edit] United States Bill of Rights
The permanent platform of the Grassroots Party is the Bill of Rights. Individual candidate's positions on issues vary from Libertarian to Green. All Grassroots candidates would end marijuana/hemp prohibition and re-legalize Cannabis for all its uses.
[edit] Minnesota
[edit] History
The Grassroots Party was established in Minnesota in 1986, by Derrick Grimmer, Tim Davis, Chris Wright and Oliver Steinberg, as an independent political party that focused on marijuana legalization. Derrick Grimmer, Ph.D., ran for Minnesota Attorney General in 1986. He received 16,394 votes.
The Grassroots Party of Minnesota (GRP) ran a full slate of state-wide candidates in 1990, 1992 and 1994, and won more votes than all other third parties in Minnesota combined.[citation needed]
In 1990, Ross S. Culverhouse, a computer programmer and Vietnam veteran was the Grassroots gubernatorial candidate. Culverhouse received 17,176 votes. Will Shetterly, a science-fiction writer and actor, ran for governor of Minnesota in 1994. He placed third out of six candidates.[1]
Russell Bentley, a party candidate and board member, was arrested on marijuana smuggling charges in 1996. Bentley was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.
In 2000, the party nominated a candidate for the United States Senate named David Daniels, an African American playwright/performance artist from Minneapolis. However, Daniels did not have a serious campaign budget and was only invited to speak at some events sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio. On election day, Daniels received 21,447 votes (0.89%).[2] In 2002, Grassroots Party co-founder and candidate, Tim Davis, joined the Green Party.
In 2010, Grassroots candidate Chris Wright was on the ballot in the governors race, signifying the possibility of the minor political party being re-organized.
[edit] Results in United States Federal Elections
| Year | Office | Candidate | Popular Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | US Senator | Derrick Grimmer | 9,016 | 0.43% |
| 1988 | US Representative 5 | Chris Wright | 6,468 | 2.68% |
| 1990 | US Senator | Russell Bentley | 29,820 | 1.65% |
| 1992 | US Representative 3 | Dwight Fellman | 9,164 | 2.91% |
| 1992 | US Representative 4 | Dan R. Vacek | 4,418 | 1.59% |
| 1992 | US Representative 5 | Russell Bentley | 6,786 | 2.24% |
| 1994 | US Senator | Candice Sjostrom | 15,920 | 0.90% |
| 1994 | US Representative 4 | Dan R. Vacek | 6,211 | 2.94% |
| 1996 | US Senator | Tim Davis | 14,139 | 0.65% |
| 1996 | US Representative 4 | Phil Willkie | 3,615 | 1.41% |
| 1996 | US Representative 5 | Erica Anderson | 13,102 | 5.33% |
| 2000 | US Senator | David Daniels | 21,447[2] | 0.89%[2] |
[edit] Results in Minnesota State Elections
| Year | Office | Candidate | Popular Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | MN Attorney General | Derrick Grimmer | 16,394 | 1.17% |
| 1990 | MN Governor | Ross S. Culverhouse | 17,176 | 0.96% |
| 1990 | MN Treasurer | Colleen Bonniwell | 84,919 | 4.94% |
| 1994 | MN Governor | Will Shetterly | 20,785 | 1.20% |
| 1994 | MN Secretary of State | Dale D. Wilkinson | 54,009 | 3.12% |
| 1994 | MN Attorney General | Dean W. Amundson | 69,776 | 4.17% |
| 1994 | MN Auditor | Steven C. Anderson | 80,811 | 4.79% |
| 1994 | MN Treasurer | Colleen Bonniwell | 84,486 | 5.20% |
| 1996 | MN Senator 62 | Steven C. Anderson | 2,032 | 6.63% |
| 1998 | MN Governor | Chris Wright | 1,727 | 0.10% |
| 1998 | MN Representative 59A | Dale D. Wilkinson | 1,270 | 9.66% |
| 2010 | MN Governor | Chris Wright | 7,513 | 0.4% |
[edit] Iowa
Derrick Grimmer, Ph.D., a founding member of the Grassroots Party, moved from Minnesota to Iowa in 1988 and formed the Grassroots Party of Iowa. Grimmer ran for Iowa State Treasurer in 1990 and received 15,745 votes and he ran for U.S. House of Representatives (IA District 3) in 1994 and received 2,282 votes.
[edit] Vermont
The Grassroots Party of Vermont formed in 1994. In 1994, Vermont Grassroots Party (VGP) ran a slate of candidates for several offices, including governor, U.S Senate, U.S. Representative, auditor of accounts, and attorney general.
In 1996 VGP ran another slate of candidates including governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. representative, attorney general, auditor of accounts, state treasurer, and secretary of state.
Three VGP candidates won five percent or more of the popular vote in the 1996 election, qualifying the Grassroots Party for permanent "major party" status in Vermont.[citation needed]
In 1998 VGP ran a slate of candidates including gubernatorial candidate Joel Williams who received 3,305 votes (1.5%) and U.S. Senate candidate Bob Melamede who received 2,459 votes (1.1%). Matthew Mulligan received 3,464 votes (1.6%) for U.S. Representative; Randy Bushey got 12,312 votes (6%) for State Treasurer; Steven Saetta got 6,345 votes (3%) for Auditor of Accounts; Dennis "Denny" Lane received 8,347 votes (3.9%) for Secretary of State and Sandy "Wells" Ward got 17,954 votes (8.8%) for Attorney General.
In 2000 the Vermont Grassroots Party ran a slate of candidates with Sandy "Wells" Ward leading the ticket as candidate for Attorney General, receiving 38,713 votes, or 14.7% of the popular vote.
Again in 2002 the VGP fielded a full statewide ticket, and this time Teresa Bouchard led the way as candidate for State Treasurer with 10,757 votes (4.8%). In 2002 one of the state leaders, Joel Williams, became a member of the Libertarian Party of Vermont.
While the VGP failed to win any elections, the party continued to nominate a slate of candidates for state office, and most of the candidates received one percent or more of the popular vote. The Grassroots Party of Vermont fielded candidates representing a mixture of liberal and libertarian views; The VGP dissolved in 2004, the membership spread out among Vermont's political scene.
[edit] U.S. Presidential candidates
Jack Herer ran as the Grassroots Party candidate for U.S. President in 1988 and 1992 . In 1996 The Grassroots Party of Minnesota nominated Dennis Peron, their first presidential nominee, in the presidential election. In 2000, the Grassroots Party of Vermont nominated Denny Lane as their presidential candidate.
[edit] Results in United States Presidential Elections
| Year | Candidate | State(s) on the Ballot | Popular Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Jack Herer | MN | 1,949 | 0.00% |
| 1992 | Jack Herer | MN | 3,875 | 0.00% |
| 1996 | Dennis Peron | MN, VT[3] | 5,378[3] | 0.01% |
| 2000 | Denny Lane | VT | 1,044 | 0.00% |
[edit] References
- ^ Shetterly, Will (2008-08-08). "Will Shetterly: Biography". http://shetterly.blogspot.com/p/biography.html.
- ^ a b c "Minnesota Secretary of State, 2000 US Senate Election Results". 2000-11-07. http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20001107/ElecRslts.asp?M=S&R=S&P=A.
- ^ a b Bickford, Bob; Ballot Access News (1998-10-07). "1996 Presidential Votes by State". http://www.ballot-access.org/1996/allvotes96.html.
