Pre-Election-Pre-Roll-palooza
This free-content issue includes: the latest Minnesota election-related cannabis news
The Pre-Roll curates the most important cannabis news and developments at the intersection of policy, politics, and industry development. With over 1,500 subscribers, the Pre-Roll is Minnesota’s premier source for cannabis-related information and intelligence.
The Pre-Roll is written by Blunt Strategies, Minnesota’s first and only full-service strategic consultancy cultivated exclusively for the cannabis industry.
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1. Latest Polling
MinnPost’s latest poll of 1,585 voters across Minnesota, taken between Oct. 10 and Oct. 14, shows that 60% of Minnesotans support the legalization of THC beverages and edibles made from both hemp and marijuana, 7% support the continued legalization of THC beverages and edibles made from hemp only, 21% do not support legalization of any THC products, and 12% are unsure. Per MinnPost’s article:
The results for the question were fairly similar across genders, ethnicities and education levels… The starkest differences were found in age and party identity.
Support for legalization of both hemp and marijuana-derived edibles dwindled as respondents got older, with respondents between 18 and 34 and 35 to 49 being strongly in favor at 71%, while support among those over 65 fell to just under half at 49%. Approval also dropped among Republican voters, with just 43% favoring legalization compared to 76% of Democrats and 64% of independents.
While all regions of the state saw a majority of residents supportive of hemp and marijuana-derived edibles, the level of support varied by region. Respondents in urban areas were most supportive, at 73%, compared to rural and suburban voters at 54% and 53%, respectively.
Stay tuned for our analysis of the poll crosstabs in our next premium issue.
→ Flashback⚡⬅: Last month, we reported findings from three polls asking Minnesotans about legalization. This latest MinnPost poll follows the trend seen in those polls.
2. Long Pot Shots
The Star Tribune reports on the influence that longshot third-party candidates may have on Minnesota election outcomes. From the article:
Candidates from the state's two pro-marijuana legalization parties, both of which have major party status, could have a particularly significant impact in the tight race for state auditor. Polls show DFL incumbent Julie Blaha and Republican challenger Ryan Wilson in a dead heat in the often overlooked race.
In an effort to overcome the potential loss of votes to those parties, Blaha has been emphasizing her endorsement by the MN is Ready Coalition that supports legalizing marijuana.
Neither Legal Marijuana Now state auditor candidate Tim Davis nor Will Finn, with the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party, has done substantial fundraising or advertising ahead of Election Day. But that also was the case in the last midterm election, when two third party candidates vied for state auditor as well. Together, they earned more than 7% of the vote that year.As unlikely as they are to prevail, these pot party candidates are a major cause for concern when it comes to spoiling Minnesota’s chances of statewide cannabis legalization, something at least one of the pot parties acknowledges and is working to mitigate:
"It's either the DFL or disaster," said [Grassroots-Legalize Marijuana Party Chairman Oliver] Steinberg, who said several Republican "dupes," including Patterson, are running under the marijuana party's banner.
What Oliver is underscoring is that the only party that can be counted on to reliably deliver pro-legalization votes in the legislature is the DFL. This is reflected in the voters guide produced by the MNisReady Coalition based on candidates’ records and questionnaire responses.
In case you're interested, the self-billed "Other Guys" had their own candidate forum last week and their platforms are summarized nicely in the Duluth News Tribune.
3. A Ghoulish GOP Trick
If you didn’t like our previous point that it’s a DFL majority or bust when it comes to legalization in this state, consider the increasingly problematics lengths the GOP is willing to go to use the cannabis third-parties and cannabis voters as pawns to get their anti-legalization candidates elected.
Yesterday, Axios reporter Torey Van Oot tweeted about a GOP superPAC that’s running ads encouraging people to vote for deceased Legalize Marijuana Now candidate Paula Overby in the race for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District:
The superPAC in question is called Right Now USA, and they have quite a reputation for spreading misinformation and trying to manipulate voters. Our very own Leili Fatehi quickly put together and disseminated an interest party memo on behalf of the MNisReady Coalition calling out the group’s repugnant conduct. It’s 🌶️ .
4. Spoiling for a Fight
Several specific Minnesota races that are particularly susceptible to being spoiled by pot party candidates received dedicated media attention.
The far-right’s Newsmax published a piece proclaiming that votes for the pot party candidate in Congressional District 1 are likely the lynchpin for securing GOP candidate Brad Finstad’s victory:
Given the tightness of their contest, the Finstad-Ettinger rematch in the November general election was considered one of the Democrats' top targets for a picking up a House seat anywhere.
With barely a week to go before the voting, however, signs are strong that a third-party candidate favoring marijuana legalization may ensure Finstad's election to a full term.
According to a just-completed poll conducted by KSTP-TV, Finstad leads Ettinger by 46% to 37% districtwide. Showing surprising strength with 6% is Richard Riesdorf of Legalize Marijuana Now.
One veteran conservative activist in Gopher State politics told us, "If Reisdorf continues to poll as he is in the KSTP survey, Brad will win for sure."
MinnPost did a deep dive into the dynamics in Congressional District 2.
Sahan Journal looked at the tight race for State Auditor.
5. The Future is Hazy
Last week, Angela Davis hosted a discussion on MPR featuring out-state experts looking in and assessing a somewhat hazy future of legalization in Minnesota. Of note: Dasheeda Dawson, founding chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition and the founding director of Cannabis NYC, makes several salient points on the opportunities that are often overlooked by states that are pre-legalization.