MINNEAPOLIS — A judge here March 20 ruled in favor of a suit filed by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party that will revoke the major-party status of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, the last political party, other than the Democrats and Republicans, to hold major-party status in Minnesota. The status guarantees parties a place on the ballot.
The case was based on a new law passed by the DFL-dominated state legislature in 2023 requiring major parties to hold conventions in each of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts and at least 45 of its legislative districts.
The law imposed this requirement as part of a series of new measures aimed at limiting the franchise. A new party now has to receive 8% of the vote to achieve major-party status, up from 5% previously. This is part of a broader drive by the Democrats, backed by some Never-Trump Republicans, to close down space for new parties to get on the ballot.
This law was passed “to use specifically to target our party,” Dennis Schuller, chairman of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, told the press, “and silence the voices of the thousands of Americans who have voted for us.”
The Democratic National Committee — along with other pro-Joseph Biden groups with names like the Citizens to Save Our Republic, American Bridge, and the Third Way — is raising funds and mobilizing to beat back third parties and independent presidential candidates, including Robert Kennedy Jr., the Green Party’s and the candidate of No Labels group.
“The single biggest threat that helps put Trump back in the White House is third-party candidates,” Joe Trippi, founder of the super PAC Citizens to Save Our Republic, told NBC News. “It’s not Biden’s age. It’s not whether Trump gets convicted. It’s not any of that stuff.”
The Socialist Workers Party is looking to put Rachele Fruit on the ballot for president across the country, including in Minnesota. “The ruling capitalist families are determined to confine the political arena to their decades-old two-party shell game,” said John Studer, the SWP’s national campaign director.
“This comes at a time when more working people see the need to break with the bosses’ parties, to find a way to express their own class interests in the political arena. We oppose all efforts to kick other candidates off the ballot, including the SWP,” he said.