‘Pot party’ candidate says GOP operative recruited him

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A disabled Minnesota veteran says a Republican operative deceived him into becoming part of a GOP strategy to use pro-marijuana political parties to siphon off votes from Democratic candidates.

Kevin “NeSe” Shores told KMSP-TV he assumed the person recruiting him to run for the seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep Collin Peterson was from the Grassroots Legalize Cannabis Party. He was wrong. The station reports he was a GOP strategist, Kip Christianson, who was on the payroll of the Republican National Committee. Christianson denies misrepresenting himself.

Shores lost his primary, and Peterson lost the general election to Republican Michelle Fischbach.