Mark Elworth Jr.

Mark Gerald Elworth Jr. (born August 6, 1976) is an American freelance musician, businessman, [...] 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 [...] 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 [...] NOW Party. Elworth, who was state party chair of Nebraska Legal [...] NOW from 2021 to 2025, resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Personal life

When Mark Elworth was young, he was arrested several times for [...] 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, has been a volunteer coordinator during petition drives for several state political parties, and was state chair of Nebraska Legal [...] NOW Party from 2021 until 2025. Elworth is a single father of one child.

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.

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 [...] 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.

In 2015–2016, Elworth petitioned for a [...] 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 [...] NOW.

Elworth was the Legal [...] 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 [...] 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 [...] 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.”

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 [...] 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 [...] NOW Party recognized by the state of Nebraska.

On April 21, 2021, Legal [...] NOW gained official recognition as a state political party in Nebraska, earning the party ballot access for their candidates, and allowing Legal [...] NOW Party to register voters. And Elworth became chairperson of Nebraska Legal [...] NOW.

Elworth was a Legal [...] 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 Legal [...] NOW primary by Kerry Eddy, who dropped out to support pro-[...] independent candidate Dan Osborn, Elworth instead endorsed the anti-[...] incumbent, Republican Deb Fischer, in the election. And later, in 2025, Elworth told a reporter he planned to run against incumbent Republican Pete Ricketts and independent challenger Osborn in the United States Senate election as a Legal [...] NOW candidate, in 2026.

Colorado Libertarian Party

Elworth, who moved to Brush, Colorado, in 2023 and ran as a 2024 Libertarian candidate for U.S. Representative from Colorado's 3rd congressional district, relocated to Colorado Springs and is a 2026 Libertarian nominee for U.S. Representative from Colorado's 5th 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
  • United States Representative from Colorado's 5th congressional district in 2026

Further reading

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