Friends, family mourn sudden death of Minnesota congressional candidate

Legal Marijuana Now Party’s Second District Congressional nominee, Adam Weeks, died suddenly earlier this week at his home in Red Wing, according to his family.

If a major party nominee dies within 79 days of Election Day, a special election will be held on the second Tuesday of February, according to Minnesota’s Secretary of State.

"He was complex, he was unique and he was really special," said Joey Hudson, a long-time friend of Weeks. "With his work and with politics he was trying to find a way he could help make the world better.”

No cause of death has been released on the 38-year-old Weeks, who worked as an organic-farmer. Weeks’ memorial is scheduled for Saturday in Cannon Falls at St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church. His platform focused on criminal justice reform, saying the drug war was a major cause of racial and economic disparity.

Candidates respond as special election to be held in February for 2nd Congressional District following death of fellow candidate

Hudson said Weeks was working hard on the campaign to bring about change.

"I was just worried about him in the sense like, man, he’s really beating the hell out of himself but there weren’t any fatal concerns anybody had," Hudson said.

Party leaders told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they don’t have any plans as to who will replace Weeks on the special election ballot but will meet as a party to decide on a plan going forward in the next couple of weeks.

"The campaign has to go into a state of suspended animation really until after the November election," said Steven Schier, Carleton College Political Analyst, about the Second District Congressional race.

Republican candidate Tyler Kistner announced he would be suspending advertising following Weeks’ death.

Schier said Democratic incumbent Angie Craig had a slight lead over Kistner but now everything has changed with this election moving from November to the winter.

"Now, we have no idea what the situation will be like on Feb. 9 — who will be the president, who will control the U.S. House, who will control the U.S. Senate, how well-funded the candidates will be, what the turnout will be, it’s completely unforeseeable at this point," Schier said.

Craig will be out of her seat after the first of the year, so residents won’t have a voting representative in Congress until after the February special election.