The Grassroots Party was a political third party in the United States established in 1986 to oppose drug prohibition. The party shared many of the progressive values of the Farmer–Labor Party but with an emphasis on cannabis/hemp legalization issues, and the organization traced their roots to the Youth International Party of the 1960s.
The Grassroots Party was active in the U.S. states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Vermont. The party was most successful in Vermont, where they achieved major party qualification in 1996, a status which Vermont Grassroots retained for six years, until 2002.
Platform
United States Bill of Rights The permanent platform of the Grassroots Party was the Bill of Rights. Individual candidates' positions on issues varied from Libertarian to Green. All Grassroots candidates would end marijuana/hemp prohibition, thus re-legalizing cannabis for all its uses.
U.S. presidential candidates Jack Herer (1939–2010), author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp & The Marijuana Conspiracy, was the Grassroots presidential candidate in 1988 and 1992.
Grassroots Party ran candidates in every presidential election from 1988 to 2000.
In 1996 the Grassroots Party of Minnesota nominated Dennis Peron in the presidential election. In 2000, the Grassroots Party of Vermont nominated Denny Lane as their presidential candidate.
In 2012, the Grassroots Party nominated Minnesota businessman Jim Carlson as their presidential candidate.KBJR-TV (June 29, 2012) "Duluth Head Shop Owner Continues Presidential Bid", MSNBC. Retrieved July 9, 2012."Grassroots Party Nominates a Presidential Ticket", Ballot Access News. July 7, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
Results in presidential elections Year Candidate VP candidate Ballot access Popular votes Percentage 1988 Jack Herer Dana Beal MN 1,949 0.00% 1992 Jack Herer Derrick Grimmer MN, IA 3,875 0.00% 1996 Dennis Peron Arlin Troutt MN, VT 5,378 0.01% 2000 Denny Lane Dale Wilkinson VT 1,044 0.00% 2012 Jim Carlson George McMahon MN 3,149 0.00%
History
Early history The Grassroots Party was established in Minnesota in 1986, by Tim Davis, Derrick Grimmer, Oliver Steinberg, and Chris Wright, as an independent political party that focused on marijuana legalization. Derrick Grimmer, Ph.D., ran for Minnesota Attorney General in 1986. Grimmer received 16,394 votes.
Founding member Oliver Steinberg, who was a Republican candidate for US Congress in 1984, had a background of violence discrediting the peace movement in the 1970s. Steinberg was the Grassroots candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1990.
The Grassroots Party of Minnesota (GRP) ran a full slate of statewide candidates in 1994 and won more votes than all other third parties in Minnesota combined. The Vermont Grassroots Party was formed in 1994.
Russell Bentley, a party candidate for US Senate in 1990 and US Congress in 1992 and GRP board member, was arrested on marijuana smuggling charges in 1996. Bentley was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Independent Grassroots In Minnesota in 1996 the Grassroots Party split, forming Independent Grassroots for one election cycle. John Birrenbach was the Independent Grassroots presidential candidate and George McMahon was the vice-presidential candidate. Dan Vacek was the Independent Grassroots candidate for US Representative (MN District 4). In 1998, members of Independent Grassroots established the Legal Marijuana Now political party.
Minnesota
Gubernatorial candidates In 1990, Ross Culverhouse, a computer programmer and Vietnam veteran was the Grassroots gubernatorial candidate. Oliver Steinberg was the party's candidate for Lieutenant Governor. 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.
Results in Minnesota gubernatorial elections Year Office Candidate Lieutenant Governor candidate Popular votes Percentage 1990 MN Governor Ross Culverhouse Oliver Steinberg 17,176 0.96% 1994 MN Governor Will Shetterly Tim Davis 20,785 1.20% 1998 MN Governor Chris Wright Darrell Paulsen 1,727 0.10% 2010 MN Governor Chris Wright Edwin H. Engelmann 7,516 0.36%
Minnesota elections In 2000, the party nominated David Daniels, an African American playwright/performance artist from Minneapolis, as candidate for the United States Senate. Daniels had a very small campaign budget and was only invited to speak at some events broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio and Twin Cities Public Television. On election day, Daniels received 21,447 votes.
In 2002, Grassroots Party co-founder and candidate, Tim Davis, joined the Green Party. Davis returned to the Grassroots Party and ran for United States Senator in 2012. Davis, in 2020, became chairperson of the Legal Marijuana Now Party Minnesota chapter.
2010–2014
In 2010, Grassroots candidate Chris Wright was on the ballot in the governor's election.
The last Grassroots Party candidates ran in Minnesota, in 2012.
Steinberg and Wright, in 2014, formed the Minnesota Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party. Davis and the rest of the Grassroots Party, from 2014 to 2016, merged into the Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now Party.
After 2014 In 2023, Grassroots Party founder Oliver Steinberg testified before the Minnesota Senate Public Safety Committee, in favor of Senate File 73 to create a regulated commercial cannabis market in the state. Some scholars have credited Minnesota's marijuana political parties, including GRP, for the state Democratic Party championing cannabis legalization after 2016.
Results in Minnesota state elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1986 MN Attorney General Derrick Grimmer 16,394 1.17% 1990 MN Secretary of State Candice Sjostrom 43,812 2.48% 1990 MN Treasurer Colleen Bonniwell 84,919 4.94% 1990 MN Senator 58 Eric Anderson 1,797 7.88% 1990 MN Representative 59B Tim Davis 755 5.56% 1990 MN Representative 60A Spencer Orman 477 7.29% 1992 MN Senator 59 Dale Wilkinson 2,179 7.05% 1994 MN Secretary of State Dale Wilkinson 54,009 3.12% 1994 MN Attorney General Dean Amundson 69,776 4.17% 1994 MN Auditor Steven Anderson 80,811 4.79% 1994 MN Treasurer Colleen Bonniwell 84,486 5.20% 1998 MN Representative 59A Dale Wilkinson 1,270 9.66%
Results in federal elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1988 US Senator Derrick Grimmer 9,016 0.43% 1988 US Representative 5 Chris Wright 268 0.11% 1990 US Senator Russell Bentley 29,820 1.65% 1992 US Representative 3 Dwight Fellman 9,164 2.91% 1992 US Representative 4 Dan 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 Vacek 6,211 2.94% 1996 US Senator Tim Davis 14,139 6.48% 1996 US Representative 4 Phil Willkie 3,615 1.41% 1996 US Representative 5 Erika Anderson 13,102 5.33% 2000 US Senator David Daniels 21,447 0.89% 2012 US Senator Tim Davis 30,532 1.07%
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.
Results in Iowa state elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1990 IA Treasurer Derrick Grimmer 15,745 1.76% 1990 IA Secretary of Agriculture Richard Bychowski 16,138 1.80%
Results in federal elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1994 US Representative 3 Derrick Grimmer 2,282 1.18% 1994 US Representative 4 William Oviatt 803 0.38%
Vermont
Gubernatorial candidates The Vermont Grassroots Party formed in 1994. Dennis Lane was their candidate for Governor of Vermont in 1994, and 1996. Bill Coleman ran for Lieutenant Governor in 1996, and again in 1998.
Joel Williams was the Vermont Grassroots nominee for Governor in 1998, and 2000.
Results in Vermont gubernatorial elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1994 Vermont Governor Dennis Lane 2,118 1.0% 1996 Vermont Governor Dennis Lane 3,667 1.4% 1996 Lieutenant Governor Bill Coleman 5,296 2.1% 1998 Vermont Governor Joel Williams 3,305 1.5% 1998 Lieutenant Governor Bill Coleman 3,913 1.8% 2000 Vermont Governor Joel Williams 1,359 0.5% 2000 Lieutenant Governor Tom Beer 8,776 3.1% 2002 Vermont Governor Patricia Hejny 771 0.4% 2002 Lieutenant Governor Sally Ann Jones 4,310 1.9%
Vermont elections In 1994, in addition to Governor, Vermont Grassroots ran candidates for U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Auditor of Accounts, and Attorney General. Robert Melamede was Vermont Grassroots nominee for U.S. Senator, in 1994, and again in 1998.
In 1996, genetic researcher and microbiologist Melamede, whose views promoting the curative properties of cannabis put him at odds with mainstream academia, was Grassroots candidate for U.S. Representative. Vermont Grassroots again ran a slate of candidates including Governor, Lieutenant Governor, U.S. Representative, Attorney General, Auditor of Accounts, State Treasurer, and Secretary of State.
Three Vermont Grassroots candidates won five percent or more of the popular vote in the 1996 election, qualifying the Grassroots Party for recognized major party status in Vermont.
In 1998 Vermont Grassroots ran a slate of candidates including gubernatorial candidate Joel Williams who received 3,305 votes (1.5%), and U.S. Senate candidate 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 Ward leading the ticket as candidate for Attorney General, receiving 38,713 votes, or 14.7% of the popular vote.
The Grassroots Party of Vermont fielded candidates representing a mixture of liberal and libertarian views for over a decade. The Vermont Grassroots Party dissolved after 2002.
In 2002 one of the Vermont Grassroots state leaders, Joel Williams, became a member of the Libertarian Party of Vermont. The Vermont Marijuana Party was formed in 2002 by Loretta Nall and Cris Ericson.
Vermont Grassroots Party ran a full slate, including gubernatorial candidates, in 2002. Teresa Bouchard led the way as candidate for State Treasurer with 10,757 votes (4.8%).
Results in Vermont state elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1994 VT Auditor Pamela Zarra Redden 7,239 3.7% 1994 VT Attorney General Ted Talcott 7,062 3.5% 1996 VT Treasurer Randy Bushey 16,671 7.0% 1996 VT Secretary of State Jimmy De Pierro 17,283 7.4% 1996 VT Auditor James Sweet 11,134 4.7% 1996 VT Attorney General Tom Kingston 14,443 6.1% 1998 VT Treasurer Randy Bushey 12,312 6.2% 1998 VT Secretary of State Dennis Lane 8,347 4.0% 1998 VT Auditor Steven Saetta 6,345 3.1% 1998 VT Attorney General Sandy Ward 17,954 8.9% 2000 VT Attorney General Sandy Ward 39,713 14.7% 2002 VT Treasurer Claude Bouchard 10,757 4.8% 2002 VT Secretary of State Tina Thompson 7,166 3.2% 2002 VT Auditor Lynn Appleby 8,172 3.7% 2002 VT Attorney General Mann Ward 6,307 2.8%
Results in federal elections Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage 1994 US Senator Bob Melamede 1,416 0.7% 1994 US Representative Jack Rogers 2,664 1.3% 1996 US Representative Robert Melamede 1,350 0.5% 1998 US Senator Bob Melamede 2,459 1.1% 1998 US Representative Matthew Mulligan 3,464 1.6% 2000 US Senator Billy Greer 4,889 1.7% 2000 US Representative Jack Rogers 4,799 1.7% 2002 US Representative Fawn Skinner 2,344 1.0%
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