Davis volunteered for the Missouri chapter of NORML beginning in the mid-1970s, for more than ten years, until he moved to Minnesota.
Davis worked as a radio disc jockey from 1979 to 1986. Davis interviewed medical marijuana patient Robert Randall, among others, in 1979, on KOEL-FM Radio.
Activism
Davis marching with NORML in the Minneapolis MayDay Parade, 1991
Grassroots Party
Davis was a founding member of the Grassroots Party and was Party chair throughout the 1990s. He was the party’s candidate for State Representative (District 59B) in 1990, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor in 1994, and United States Senator in 1996.
Davis was the Grassroots Party nominee for United States Senator in 2012 and received 30,531 votes.
Minnesota NORML
Davis led the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for over a decade, from the late 1980s until 2000s.
Minnesota Greens
In 2002, Davis ran for U.S. Congress from District 5 as the Green Party candidate and received 17,800 votes. His campaign included reducing government military spending in order to raise public education funding, and removing influences corporations have over universities. Davis worked in the campaigns for Ralph Nader in 2000, and 2004.
Davis was 2022 Legal Marijuana Now! Minnesota State Auditor nominee. Davis met a $6,000 fundraising requirement before the summer deadline to receive a publicly-funded state campaign subsidy, receiving over $1,000 from GOP donors in the final days of the fundraising campaign. Davis paid $25,750 to Ground Game LLC, owned by Republican political activist Paul Tuschy, to door knock on his behalf. When asked whether he was concerned Republicans were using him to blunt Julie Blaha's re-election campaign, Davis told Minnesota Reformer, "We’re being taken advantage of by Republicans and Democrats." Davis agreed that GOP donations appeated suspicious. Blaha also told Reformer that she thought that Davis believed in his cause. Davis received 87,386 votes in the November 2022 State Auditor election.
References
12Gilyard, Burl (July 5, 1995). "Doobie Brothers: Grassroots Party members grapple with their budding political clout". Twin Cities Reader. During a break in the conference, GRP chair Tim Davis leans on a wall to talk. Davis, who joined NORML in 1976, has served as chair of the Grassroots Party for three years. "I've been doing the marijuana issue for 20 years," says Davis. "I'm almost tired of talking about marijuana. ... In the last 10 years we have proved that we're not going to go away. ... What is the worst that can happen if you vote for a third party? They'll win."
12Shaffer, David (July 22, 1996). "On political fringe, with public funds: Grassroots Party stands on prostitution, adult-child sex push some members away". St. Paul Pioneer Press.
123Kahn, Aron (October 1987). "Marijuana backers keep issue burning / Controversy still alive". Star Tribune. And they say prohibition is futile, anyway, just as it was with alcohol. "They (the government) think they're cracking down, but all they're doing is driving the price up," said Davis, the 32-year-old president of NORML's Minnesota chapter.
