The campaign of third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that it has met the signature requirements to qualify for the ballot in North Carolina, a fifth state.
Kennedy Jr.’s campaign has collected approximately 23,000 signatures in the Tar Heel State, and his supporters have decided to work under the We the People Party in the state, Press reported. announced in the release. said. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign exceeded the 13,757-signature threshold it needed to meet by the May 31 deadline by about 10,000 signatures.
He is officially on the ballot in Utah, and his campaign notes that it has completed petitions in three other states, including the battleground states of Nevada and New Hampshire.
“in Hawaiithe Office of Elections has confirmed that Kennedy Jr. supporters have collected the signatures necessary to form the ‘We the People’ party,” the release added.
In particular, North Carolina, Nevada, and New Hampshire are three key swing states that will play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the November election.
On Tuesday, the former Democratic congressman announced his running mate, left-wing lawyer Nicole Shanahan, who donated thousands of dollars to President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and became an early supporter of Kennedy Jr. this term. .
Nicole Shanahan (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The release states:[t]His campaign was already actively collecting signatures in 16 states before announcing his vice president. After the announcement, 19 additional states launched petitions. ”
Interactive map on campaign site show Eleven states have not yet started petitions: Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin. The petition process has not yet begun in Washington, D.C.
The campaign’s “robust voting access plan” aims to “ensure” that he is an option for voters in all 50 states in November.
“We have field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulars, supporters and strategists ready to do the job,” campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Speer said in a release.
Kennedy Jr. is currently the third most likely candidate for the position, behind former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
RealClear Politics national polling average show In a five-way race that includes third-party candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein, Trump leads with 42% support. Mr. Biden came in second with 39.6%, while Mr. Kennedy Jr. averaged 10.3%. Stein and West are posting 2 percent and his 1.9 percent, respectively.
After Kennedy Jr. announced Shanahan as his running mate, Trump shared on Truth Social that he loved Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy, calling him a “crooked Joe Biden political opponent and not mine.” No,” he declared.
He also called Kennedy Jr. “the most radical leftist candidate in the race.”
