High Times CEO Announces Run for Utah State Rep.

Stormy Simon, the CEO of Hightimes Holding Corp. and former President of Overstock.com, has announced she is running to represent Utah’s 21st District in the state House of Representatives.

Simon unveiled her plan during an appearance on the TRICHOMES Podcast aired on Friday, saying she decided to run for office after the governor, lawmakers, and Mormon Church colluded in late 2018 to override voters on the issue of medical cannabis. Ultimately, officials gutted the state’s voter-approved initiative to legalize medical cannabis by slashing the number of allowed dispensaries, removing many of the program’s qualifying conditions, and stripping away access to most edible products.

“They took the people’s vote and they changed it, and that bothered me. That is really what triggered me to say, ‘I don’t think that’s okay.'” — Stormy Simon, via the TRICHOMES Podcast

Simon rises to challenge incumbent Rep. Douglas Sagers, a Republican who has held the seat since 2011. She is running as a Democrat but spent much of her life as a registered Republican and then Libertarian — primarily due to her beliefs on fiscal matters, she said.

“I call myself a Democrat in Utah and a Republican in California,” Simon said. “The parties don’t understand that but I don’t understand choosing one party. It really is based on the state you are in, and it varies greatly.”