Politics
Most Of Kamala Harris’s Potential VP Running Mates Support Marijuana Legalization—And Some Have Even Signed It Into Law
With Vice President Kamala Harris now positioned to win the Democratic nomination following President Joe Biden’s decision not to run for reelection, new questions have emerged about who she’ll pick as a running mate. And for advocates, the current shortlist offers reason to be optimistic about the possibility of a fully pro-legalization ticket.
If Harris does secure the nomination, that alone will represent the first time in U.S. history that a major party presidential nominee who supports a complete end to cannabis prohibition would be at the top of the ticket. But it could prove to be a dually marijuana-friendly campaign considering that most of the names that are being floated as her running mate also back legalization. In fact, some have even signed the reform into law at the state level.
While Harris has not yet indicated who she might tap as a vice presidential candidate, about a dozen names are circulating as potential contenders for the job, including those who have served as governors, members of Congress and cabinet officials.
Here’s a look at where the possible VP picks stand on marijuana:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D)
The governor not only signed a medical cannabis legalization bill into law last year, but he’s been closely aligned with the Biden-Harris administration on marijuana policy issues, joining the vice president at the White House in May for a roundtable event with presidential cannabis pardon recipients, for example.
Beshear also promoted his work with the administration on cannabis reform in an interview earlier this month when asked about the possibility that he and Harris could run together as a ticket in November if Biden left the race.
In addition to signing the medical marijuana legalization bill, Beshear has also taken executive action to legally protect patients who possess medical cannabis purchased at out-of-state licensed retailers by exercising his unilateral authority to grant pardons to anyone who meets certain criteria. He also indicated support for broader marijuana legalization, saying in the past that it’s “time we joined so many other states in doing the right thing.”
After Biden issued his first pardon proclamation in October 2022, Beshear said he was “actively considering” possible marijuana clemency actions the state could take and encouraged people to petition for relief in the interim. In 2021, he also talked about his desire to let Kentucky farmers grow and sell recreational cannabis across state lines.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
Prior to joining the Biden administration as secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Buttigieg was among the Democratic candidates vying for the 2020 presidential nomination, and he campaigned on marijuana legalization. At one campaign stop at a dispensary in Las Vegas in 2019, he spoke with Marijuana Moment about about the challenges state-licensed cannabis businesses face under federal prohibition and expanded on his vision for reform.
The former South Bend, Indiana mayor had also proposed decriminalizing possession of all drugs because oftentimes, “a sentence has done more harm than the offense that it was intended to deal with” when it comes to low-level drug charges.
In the time since, DOT has taken some steps under his leadership to reform its internal cannabis policies for drivers—including proposing to amend drug testing rules—but it’s also continued to warn against the use of marijuana and even federally legal hemp-derived CBD products.
Buttigieg said during a House committee hearing this month that the agency’s drug testing policies wouldn’t be affected even if the Biden administration moves forward with its plans to reschedule cannabis.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D)
After Biden issued a mass pardon for people who’ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses, Cooper called on the legislature to advance legislation to decriminalize cannabis. He’s also advocated for the passage of medical marijuana legalization legislation that’s consistently stalled over recent sessions.
He said in late 2022 that he thought a medical cannabis bill “has an opportunity to pass” this session, while reiterating his support for broader decriminalization of cannabis possession, noting racial disparities in enforcement. The Senate has advanced the medical marijuana reform, but it hasn’t moved through the House yet.
Cooper first publicly voiced support for decriminalization in October 2022, saying that it’s time to “end the stigma,” while separately announcing steps he took to explore his options for independently granting relief to people with existing convictions, such as directing state attorneys to review pardon authority for marijuana offenses.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
During his time in the Senate, Kelly has signed on to multiple versions of a Senate bill that would provide banking access to state-legal marijuana businesses, as well as separate legislation to effectively legalize cannabis for veterans.
Kelly, an astronaut and military veteran, also indicated that he was leaning in favor of supporting an Arizona ballot initiative to legalize adult-use marijuana that ultimately passed in the state in 2020.
“It has some provisions in there to decriminalize it and to address some of the incarceration rates for what are marijuana offenses,” the then-Senate candidate said. “I think that’s good. I think there’s a funding source there. So I’m probably going to vote ‘yes.’”
Pressed on whether he would support efforts to remove marijuana from Schedule I under federal law if won, Kelly said at the time that, “based on my vote here in Arizona, I would seriously consider removing it.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D)
The governor has been an outspoken advocate for marijuana reform, with a focus on repairing the racially disparate harms of prohibition. He was elected in 2022, during the same cycle when voters approved legalization at the ballot—and he’s been proactive about not just implementing the law but building upon the reform.
Moore, who previously served on the board of directors for the multi-state cannabis operator Green Thumb Industries, also recently received praise from the White House after he granted a mass cannabis pardon for over 175,000 convictions related to marijuana and paraphernalia possession last month.
The governor has also said there’s still work to do to expunge cannabis convictions, and he’s pledging to work with lawmakers to achieve the broader reform.
He additionally launched a first-of-its-kind marijuana workforce development program, with a focus on supporting industry participation by people who’ve been criminalized over cannabis. And he’s signed legislation to make it so the lawful and responsible use of marijuana by parents and guardians will not be construed by state officials as child “neglect.”
Last year, he allowed a law to take effect without signature to prevent police from using the odor or possession of cannabis alone as the basis of a search.
Aside from cannabis, Moore in May also signed a pair of bills into law to establish a psychedelics task force that will study legal access to substances like psilocybin and DMT.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)
Newsom has long pushed for marijuana reform. As lieutenant governor of California, he was one of the first major elected officials to call for cannabis legalization, and he also distinguished himself when he voiced broad criticism of the war on drugs as mayor of San Francisco in the 2000s.
His endorsement of marijuana legalization in 2012 drew headlines, with Newsom telling The New York Times that it’s “time for politicians to come out of the closet on this,” while arguing that prohibitionist laws “don’t make sense.”
Following that endorsement, the then-lieutenant governor convened a blue ribbon panel that helped inform the drafting of an adult-use cannabis legalization initiative that voters went on to approve in 2016.
As governor, he’s played a central role in implementing the legalization law, while working administratively to support the legal industry. For example, in his latest budget request, Newsom pledged to continue working to “strengthen” the state’s marijuana market, while also proposing to help close an overall government budgetary deficit by borrowing $100 million from a cannabis tax fund designated for law enforcement and other public safety initiatives.
He’s also enacted numerous marijuana measures over his term, including several that took effect at the beginning of the year. For instance, California employers are now prohibited from asking job applicants about past cannabis use, and most are barred from penalizing employees over lawful use of marijuana outside of the job.
But the governor has also faced criticism from drug policy reform advocates over other actions, including his veto of a bill that would have legalized certain psychedelics for adults, as well as another that would’ve created a harm reduction pilot program for safe drug consumption sites.
Newsom did sign a bill into law this month that’s meant to streamline the processing of applications to study psychedelics and marijuana.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D)
Polis is another name that’s familiar to people in marijuana advocacy and industry circles, as he’s been championing legalization going back to his time in Congress, where he cosponsored a variety of reform bills. That includes proposals to end federal cannabis prohibition, provide licensed business with banking access, promote research and veterans access to medical marijuana and more.
As governor, Polis has issued thousands of pardons for prior cannabis convictions. And while he notably declined to publicly endorse the state’s historic marijuana legalization ballot initiative ahead of the 2012 election, he has since taken a number of steps to implement and build upon the voter-approved reform.
In April, Polis said that while federal marijuana legalization is the ultimate goal, incremental rescheduling and cannabis banking reform are important “dominoes” that could help pave the way. And he said his state continues to have “very strong conversations with the White House” about the need for policy change.
Polis also recently signed a bill into law to allow online marijuana sales, as well as legislation to bolster marijuana-related protections for working professionals in the state. He additionally announced in 2020 that the state was rolling out two pilot programs aimed at increasing energy efficiency in the marijuana and beer industries.
The governor has said that the Biden administration’s rescheduling move must be followed with more action to address cannabis banking, immigration, criminal justice reform and federal enforcement concerns.
Marking the 10-year anniversary of Colorado’s legalization vote, Polis told Marijuana Moment that the state “has developed one of the leading regulatory systems in the world and inspired countless others like it across the country and around the globe.”
Meanwhile, Polis has also called on lawmakers to take steps to allow him to issue mass pardons for people with prior psychedelics convictions after he signed legislation to implement regulations for substances like psilocybin and ayahuasca last year in line with a legalization ballot initiative that voters approved last year. The governor also declined to endorse that measure prior to its passage.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D)
Pritzker is another governor on the potential VP list who has been a vocal advocate for legalization, signing an adult-use cannabis bill into law in 2019, in addition to a multiple other pieces of legislation to improve upon the policy.
For example, he approved a budget measure last month that includes provisions that will allow licensed marijuana businesses to take state tax deductions that they’re currently prohibited from utilizing at the federal level due to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.
Pritzker has been consistent in his messaging about the need to put equity at the forefront of the state’s marijuana legalization law.
After the state released a report this year that found 60 percent of all adult-use cannabis business licenses granted by regulators have been issued to minority- or women-owned businesses, he said he’s “incredibly proud of our emerging cannabis industry, and we’re fully committed to making this an industry where people most affected by the War on Drugs can start their own business and thrive.”
One day before legal recreational marijuana sales launched in Illinois in 2019, Pritzker announced that his office was pardoning more than 11,000 people who had previously been convicted of simple cannabis possession.
Following the implementation of legalization, the governor also took a dig at neighboring states in his State of the State address, joking about how their lack of legal marijuana access means residents will end up coming to Illinois and paying taxes to his coffers for cannabis products.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D)
The governor has pushed lawmakers to deliver him a bill to legalize adult-use marijuana in the state, including the reform in his last two budget requests, for example.
Shapiro argued that commonwealth needs “catch up” with neighboring states such as Ohio by launching legal recreational sales that would bring in an estimated $14.8 million in tax revenue in the first year of implementation.
He said in February that he thinks officials in the state “don’t even have a choice anymore” on legalizing marijuana, and he feels there’s bipartisan momentum that lawmakers should leverage to get the job done.
However, while he’s publicly promoted legalization, some lawmakers who are working on the issue have indicated that his office has not been as engaged with the legislature as he needed to be to get the job done, and they’ve raised particular concerns about the relatively high tax rate of Shapiro’s proposed regulatory framework.
In December, the governor signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to serve as retailers and sell their cannabis products directly to patients. Independent dispensaries could also start cultivating their own marijuana.
Shapiro, who previously served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, campaigned on legalization during the 2022 gubernatorial election and has also talked about his intentions to expand on his predecessor’s work in granting clemency to those who’ve been criminalized over marijuana.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D)
Walz is another example of a potential Harris running mate who has personally signed a marijuana legalization bill into law in his capacity as Minnesota governor last year.
The governor had repeatedly called on supporters to join lawmakers and the administration in their push legalize marijuana last session, and he circulated an email blast in early 2023 that encouraged people to sign a petition backing the reform.
At the legalization bill signing, Walz also invited former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a longstanding champion of cannabis reform who delivered impassioned testimony at legislative hearings this session about illegally obtaining medical marijuana to treat his wife’s severe epilepsy.
Walz has also voiced support for proposals to strengthen the social equity provisions of the marijuana legalization law that’s being actively implemented.
Meanwhile, the Walz administration came under some scrutiny after it hired a lead marijuana regulator under a process that didn’t follow standard procedures. That official later stepped down.
During his time in Congress from 2007-2019, Walz cosponsored legislation to promote medical marijuana research for veterans, create a regulated hemp program and legalize non-intoxicating CBD.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D)
Whitmer has been responsible for implementing the marijuana legalization law that Michigan voters approved in 2018, and she’s taken steps to promote additional equity initiatives while celebrating the industry that’s emerged.
In 2020, Whitmer signed legislation that would allow people with low-level cannabis convictions to have their records expunged. She also approved several additional bills to more generally expand the record clearing process for other types of convictions.
Whitmer has previously faced criticism from reform advocates for declining to proactively intervene in certain marijuana cases since the state enacted legalization. State Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), for example, urged the governor to grant clemency to a 69-year-old incarcerated man who was convicted of selling cannabis more than two decades ago. Months later, Whitmer ultimately did commute Thompson’s sentence.
Last year, the governor signed bipartisan legislation that will allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to conduct trade with tribal cannabis entities.
She previously approved legislation that makes it so people with marijuana-related felony or misdemeanor convictions on their record are no longer disqualified from obtaining a medical cannabis business license.
A shortlist flowing with pro-reform support
While nothing is set in stone, and the new Harris campaign is actively in the process of vetting possible running mates, the current options that are being floated indicate that this administration, if elected, would be a historic one for marijuana advocates. None of the prospective VPs support prohibitionist policies, and the majority back ending the status quo of prohibition.
Given that many have been involved in either enacting or implementing legalization, or supporting legislative proposals to reform cannabis laws, that also signals that the administration that might emerge would have a unique familiarity with the nuances of marijuana policy issues, further bolstering the chances that that translates into a White House that takes a more proactive role in moving forward with bolder cannabis actions.
