# Mark Elworth Jr.

Mark Gerald Elworth Jr. (born August 6, 1976) is an American freelance musician, businessman, cannabis rights activist, perennial candidate for public office, and rockhound. Elworth was the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Nebraska in 2014 and was the Legal Marijuana Now candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2016.
Elworth, who petitioned in the past for ballot access for the Nebraska Green Party, led a successful statewide petition drive to acquire ballot access for a Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party.
Elworth, who resides in Brush, Colorado, is state party chairperson of Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW.

## Personal life

When Mark Elworth was young, he was arrested several times for cannabis possession. He told a reporter for The Daily Nebraskan that even though the charges were misdemeanors, the record of infractions has haunted him as an adult.
Elworth, who graduated from the University of Nebraska Omaha, operated a free community garden in South Omaha, and has been a volunteer coordinator during petition drives for several state political parties. A single father of one child, Elworth is state party chairperson of Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, where he often points to as his permanent address, Elworth is known for leading a nomadic lifestyle, and he has taken up temporary residency at various locations, mostly in the Midwest and Western United States, including: Council Bluffs, Iowa; Brush, Colorado; Eugene, Oregon; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

## Political career
### Green Party

Elworth got involved in politics in the 1990s, volunteering for the Green Party during Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential campaign. In 2016, Elworth was a Green Party candidate for Nebraska Legislature.

### Libertarian Party

Elworth met the Libertarian Party during the Nebraska branch's 2010 ballot access petition drive.
Elworth was the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Nebraska in 2014. He campaigned on a platform of marijuana legalization, and cutting corporate welfare. Elworth spent $500.00, saying that he was running a grassroots campaign and did not accept any large contributions.
In 2018, Elworth ran for US Senate as a Libertarian candidate but left the race before the primary.

### Legal Marijuana Now Party

In 2015–2016, Elworth petitioned for a Marijuana Party of Nebraska to be officially recognized by the state. To make the ballot, he needed 5,397 signatures statewide. In July 2016, the party turned in 9,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State. However, the Secretary of State said that half of the signatures were invalid, falling short of the 5,397 needed.
In 2016, Elworth changed the name of the Nebraska party to Legal Marijuana NOW.
Elworth was the Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2016. His name appeared on ballots in Iowa, and Minnesota.
After an unsuccessful attempt to make it onto Nebraska ballots in 2016, Elworth began circulating petitions for 2020 ballot access for a Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party in September 2016.
Elworth said the group planned to collect double the number of signatures they submitted in 2016, to ensure their success. In September 2017, Elworth told a television reporter that Legal Marijuana NOW Party had gathered signatures of 10,000 registered Nebraska voters.

### Independent candidate

Elworth, of Council Bluffs, was nominated by petition to run independently for U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa’s 3rd congressional district, in 2018, as an independent candidate under the banner of “Legal Medical Now.”

## 2020s activism
### Democratic Party

In 2020, Elworth ran for Congress in Nebraska’s Third District as a Democrat. Elworth was the only person to file in the district for the Democratic Party primary, and was declared the winner. Elworth had a falling-out with the Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, Jane Kleeb. Elworth claimed Kleeb and the Democratic Party refused to support his candidacy, while Kleeb said Elworth failed to complete party paperwork. Elworth stated that he intended to switch parties and run as the candidate of Legal Marijuana Now Party in the district. Elworth told a reporter, “I consider myself pretty moderate on a lot of issues. I’m a little conservative on money issues. I’m more liberal on social issues. I’m a constitutionalist.” Elworth said, “I believe in people’s rights and equal rights for everybody. I’m not a true Democrat, but I’m not a Republican either.” Elworth received 18% in a three-way race, in the November 2020 General Election.

### MAGA Patriots Party

Early in the month of February 2021, Elworth filed paperwork to establish a MAGA Patriots Party, headquartered in North Platte, Nebraska. Elworth said the state Elections Division denied his filing arbitrarily, but Secretary of State Bob Evnen said Elworth’s filing was deficient. Elworth told a reporter that he was still working on getting his own Legal Marijuana NOW Party recognized by the state of Nebraska.

### Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party

On April 21, 2021, Legal Marijuana NOW gained official recognition as a state political party in Nebraska, earning the party ballot access for their candidates, and allowing Legal Marijuana NOW Party to register voters. And Elworth became chairperson of Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW.
Elworth was a Legal Marijuana NOW candidate for United States Representative from Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District in 2022.
In 2024, when the candidate he had recruited to run for U.S. Senate, Ken Peterson, was defeated in the primary by Kerry Eddy, who dropped out to support pro-cannabis independent candidate Dan Osborn, Elworth instead endorsed the anti-marijuana incumbent, Republican Deb Fischer, in the election.

### Colorado Libertarian Party

Elworth moved to Colorado, in 2023, to run as a 2024 Libertarian candidate for U.S. Representative from Colorado's 3rd congressional district.

## Political candidacy

Elworth has run numerous times for various offices, including:
* Governor of Nebraska in 2014
* Vice-president of the United States, and State Representative from Nebraska’s 13th legislative district, in 2016
* Omaha Third District city council member in 2017
* United States Representative from Iowa’s 3rd congressional district in 2018
* United States Representative from Nebraska’s 3rd congressional district in 2020, and 2022
* United States Representative from Colorado’s 3rd congressional district in 2024