Tim Davis | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Timothy A. Davis September 24, 1955 St. Louis, Missouri |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Legal Marijuana Now |
Other political affiliations | Grassroots (2010—2012) Green (2000—2008) Grassroots (1986—1998) Socialist (1974—1984) Yippie (1969—1972) |
Education | Minneapolis Community and Technical College |
Occupation | Warehouse laborer |
Known for | Cannabis rights activism |
Timothy A. Davis (born September 24, 1955) is an American cannabis rights activist, cyclist, gardener, politician, writer, retired warehouse laborer, and disc jockey. A founding member of the Grassroots Party in 1986, Davis was their candidate for Minnesota Lieutenant Governor in 1994, and United States Senator in 1996 and 2012. [1] [2]
Davis, who helped establish a Saint Louis, Missouri, chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in the 1970s, headed the Minnesota branch of the organization during the 1980s and 1990s. [1] [3]
Tim Davis began his environmental activism career by taking part in the first Earth Day in April, 1970.[ citation needed ]
Davis volunteered for the Missouri chapter of NORML beginning in the mid-1970s, for more than ten years, until he moved to Minnesota. [3]
A talented public speaker, Davis worked as a radio disc jockey from 1979 to 1986. Davis interviewed medical marijuana patient Robert Randall, among others, in 1979, on KOEL-FM Radio. [4]
After earning a broadcasting degree from Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Davis worked as a disc jockey at WWTC-AM, in Minneapolis, from 1985 to 1986.
Davis, a founding member of the Minnesota Grassroots Party, in 1986, had a role in the fight in 1988 to get the Grassroots Party into a booth in the coliseum at the Minnesota State Fair, which was staffed by volunteers during the 1990s. Davis was Grassroots Party chairperson throughout the 1990s, and was the party’s candidate for State Representative (District 59B) in 1990, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor in 1994, and United States Senator in 1996. [2] [5] [6]
Davis led the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for over a decade, from the late 1980s until 2000s. [3]
In 2002, Davis ran for U.S. Congress from District 5 as the Green Party candidate and received 17,800 votes. His campaign included reducing government military spending in order to raise public education funding, and removing influences corporations have over universities. Davis worked in the campaigns for Ralph Nader in 2000, and 2004. [7] [8]
Davis was the Grassroots candidate for United States Senator in 2012 and received 30,531 votes. [9]
In 2020—2023, Davis served as chairperson of the Legal Marijuana Now Party Minnesota chapter. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Adam Weeks, who was on the ballot in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, died four weeks before the November 3 election, throwing the 2020 election into chaos because a Minnesota state law said that if a major party candidate died during an election campaign, a special election would be held. Federal judges ruled that the election should go ahead, despite state law, so the name of the candidate who was nominated by Legal Marijuana Now Party to replace Weeks, was not on the ballot. Davis stated in a court filing that the ruling would disenfranchise Legal Marijuana Now Party voters, and later encouraged party supporters to cast their votes for the dead candidate, Weeks, in memoriam. Weeks got almost six percent of votes cast, in the three-way race. [10] [11] [12]
Davis told a reporter on Minnesota Public Radio that Legal Marijuana Now Party intended to run candidates for state and federal offices in 2022. [13] Davis entered the Minnesota State Auditor race in 2022 as a Legal Marijuana Now candidate, and received 87,386 votes.
Davis voted Socialist in his first US presidential election, in 1976.
High school student council mayor, Davis, graduated from Roosevelt High School, in St. Louis, and Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
Davis, a retired warehouse laborer, worked as a St. Louis radio disc jockey during the 1970s―1980s. He resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his life partner Mary.
Davis has run as a Grassroots, Green, and Legal Marijuana Now candidate several times for various offices, including:
Davis has written letters and editorials for several publications, including “US Elects President Who Smoked Marijuana” published in 1993 in The Canvas, the Minnesota Grassroots Party newsletter. [1] During the US presidential election in the spring of 1996, Davis wrote, edited, and produced the last issue of GRP’s The Canvas, Volume V, Number 2, with the front page headline “Medical Cannabis Hero and Presidential Candidate Dennis Peron Comes to MayDay Parade on May 5th.”
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is a social welfare organization based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws in the United States regarding both medical and non-medical use. According to their website, NORML supports "the removal of all penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including cultivation for personal use, and casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts" and advocates for "the creation of a legal and regulatory framework for marijuana's production and retail sale to adults". NORML also has a sister organization, NORML Foundation, that focuses on educational efforts and providing legal assistance and support to people affected negatively by current marijuana laws. NORML maintains chapters in a number of US states as well as outside the US in countries such as Canada, France, New Zealand, and South Africa.
The Grassroots—Legalize Cannabis Party is a political third party in the U.S. state of Minnesota created by Oliver Steinberg in 2014 to oppose cannabis prohibition. G—LC Is a democratic socialist party with a background branching from the Grassroots Party established in 1986.
The United States Marijuana Party is a cannabis political party in the United States founded in 2002 by Loretta Nall specifically to end the war on drugs and to legalize cannabis. Their policies also include other socially libertarian positions. U.S. Marijuana Party candidates in Vermont have run campaigns as recently as 2016. The party has had local chapters in several other states, and has been affiliated with international cannabis political parties.
Cannabis political parties are generally single-issue parties that exist to oppose the laws against cannabis.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party is a political third party in the United States. The party's platform includes abolishing the Drug Enforcement Administration and legalizing hemp and marijuana. As of 2023, the party has ballot access in Minnesota and Nebraska.
Cannabis in Minnesota is legal for recreational use as of August 1, 2023. On May 30, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed House File 100 into law, legalizing the use, possession, and cultivation of cannabis within the state. Licenses for commercial sales will likely not be issued until 2025, in order for the Office of Cannabis Management to establish regulatory frameworks.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 6, 2018. All of Minnesota's executive officers were up for election as well as all the seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives, several judicial seats, two United States Senate seats, Minnesota's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives, and several seats for local offices. Special elections were also held for a Minnesota Senate seat and Minnesota's Class 2 U.S. Senate seat. A primary election to nominate Republican and Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) candidates and several judicial and local primary elections were held on August 14, 2018.
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.
Minnesota NORML is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) affiliate for the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2017, Michael Ford served as the organization's executive director.
The Independent Grassroots Party was a moderate, democratic socialist political third party in the U.S. state of Minnesota created in 1996 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.
Thomas Christopher Wright is an American businessman, cannabis rights and free speech activist, and frequent candidate for public office. Wright, who co-founded the Grassroots Party in 1986, owns a computer repair shop in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Angela Dawn Craig is an American politician, retired journalist, and former businesswoman. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she has served as the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district includes most of the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities and outlying rural areas to the southwest.
John “Sparky” Birrenbach is an American businessman, marketing consultant, writer, filmmaker, and marijuana rights activist.
Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now is a political third party in the U.S. state of Minnesota established in 1998 to oppose drug prohibition.
The 2020 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 92nd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 11, 2020. The election coincided with the election of the other house of the Legislature, the Senate, and other elections.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020. All seats in the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives were up for election as well as several judicial seats, Minnesota's 10 presidential electors, a United States Senate seat, Minnesota's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives, and several positions for local offices. A primary election to nominate major party candidates and several judicial and local primary elections were held on August 11, 2020.
A mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the mayor of the U.S. city of Minneapolis. Incumbent DFL mayor Jacob Frey won reelection to a second term, becoming the first Minneapolis mayor to win a second term since R. T. Rybak in 2005. Minneapolis mayoral elections use instant-runoff voting, also known as ranked-choice voting. All candidates appear on the same ballot and there is no primary election, nor is there a runoff. Minneapolis's twin city, Saint Paul, also held a mayoral election on the same day, using the same system.
The 2022 Minnesota State Auditor election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the state auditor of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Incumbent DFLer Julie Blaha won re-election to a second term.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 8, 2022. All of Minnesota's executive officers were up for election as well as all the seats in the Minnesota Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives, several judicial seats, Minnesota's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives, and several seats for local offices. Primary elections to nominate major party candidates and several judicial and local primary elections were held on August 9, 2022.
During a break in the conference, GRP chair Tim Davis leans on a wall to talk. Davis, who joined NORML in 1976, has served as chair of the Grassroots Party for three years. "I've been doing the marijuana issue for 20 years," says Davis. "I'm almost tired of talking about marijuana. ... In the last 10 years we have proved that we're not going to go away. ... What is the worst that can happen if you vote for a third party? They'll win."
The party supports legalizing prostitution, and some party activists have rallied in support of hookers who work in Minneapolis neighborhoods, according to party President Tim Davis. ... Davis, a longtime party activist who is the Grassroots Party's candidate for U.S. Senate, dismissed Steinberg and Vacek as disgruntled former party members. He said Steinberg is a homophobic, "single-issue person" who had no interest in broadening the base of the party. "The legislature should get out of peoples' private lives," said Davis, who added that the party opposes government regulation of firearms, personal drug consumption, prostitution and sodomy. Davis said the party has no position on adult-child sex, but has encouraged discussion about the age of consent.
And they say prohibition is futile, anyway, just as it was with alcohol. "They (the government) think they're cracking down, but all they're doing is driving the price up," said Davis, the 32-year-old president of NORML's Minnesota chapter.
News of Overby's nomination came in a court filing Tuesday in which Legal Marijuana Now Party co-chairman Tim Davis opposed a November election, saying a special election in February would give his party time to get issues before voters. ... Davis said in his court filing that if Craig were to succeed in having the election in November, voters for the Legal Marijuana Now Party and other third parties around the state would be affected. He said that without the special election, members of his party won't be entitled to elect Overby on the existing ballot.