Osborn campaign staff tried to dissolve minor party to thin Senate ballot

Records obtained by the Flatwater Free Press show that Dan Osborn’s 2024 campaign employed two staffers, Christoph Marsh and Will Ramsey, who were elected as vice presidents of the Legal Marijuana NOW Party at an April 2024 virtual convention. The party’s executive board also included other Osborn volunteers and allies. In April 2025, volunteer Chelsea Richardson filed a notice with Secretary of State Bob Evnen, backed by sworn affidavits from nine vice presidents—including Marsh, Ramsey and Delanie Ness—asserting that the party had decided to dissolve.

The effort failed after party chairman Mark Elworth Jr. appointed new officers and evicted the nine vice presidents, prompting Evnen to reject the dissolution claim. The scheme was intended to keep a potential third-party candidate off the ballot, thereby protecting Osborn’s chances in his Senate race against Republican Pete Ricketts, a contest that could influence Senate control. Republicans and Democrats have since accused Osborn’s allies of planting proxy candidates and have launched lawsuits and new party formations in response. Critics, including Ricketts’ deputy campaign manager Max Oberg, called the tactics a “new low” for the Osborn campaign.