Robert F Kennedy Jr Claims he Qualifies for Ballot in Swing State North Carolina – On Monday, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the independent contender for the US presidency, announced that he has met the requirements to appear on the ballot in North Carolina, a pivotal state in the upcoming November election showdown between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
“We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters and strategists ready to get the job done,” said Kennedy’s campaign press secretary, Stefanie Spear. Kennedy transitioned from being an environmental lawyer to becoming a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, leveraging his renowned family background in his campaign.
His lineage includes his father, Robert F Kennedy, who served as the US attorney general and New York senator, and his uncle, John F Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States. Kennedy Jr. has announced that he has collected enough signatures to secure a spot on the ballot in five states, including Utah, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Nevada.
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While Utah has officially confirmed his candidacy, his ballot access in Nevada may be uncertain since he obtained it before selecting his running mate. Last week’s announcement welcomed Nicole Shanahan, a 38-year-old tech lawyer, as Kennedy’s running mate. Despite polling indicating a close race between Biden and Trump, Kennedy maintains a double-digit support outside of the major parties, positioning him as a potential spoiler.
Debate persists regarding which candidate, Biden or Trump, stands to lose more votes to Kennedy. Democrats, in particular, are wary due to past elections. In 2000, Ralph Nader diverted votes from Al Gore, contributing to Gore’s defeat by George W. Bush, and in 2016, Jill Stein’s strong showing affected Hillary Clinton’s narrow loss to Trump in several battleground states.
The Biden campaign has created a team dedicated to countering Kennedy. In that vein, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee recently claimed Republicans were “working to prop up third-party candidates like Robert Kennedy Jr to make them stalking horses for Donald Trump”, adding: “We’re going to make sure voters are educated and we’re going to make sure all candidates are playing by the rules.”
Biden’s campaign has also trumpeted endorsements from Kennedy family members. On Monday, Kennedy’s sister, Rory Kennedy, told MSNBC: “I love my brother, and it pains me to come out against him, but I am very concerned with the stakes in this election, and I’m very concerned from the polls I’m seeing that he takes many more votes from Biden than he does from Trump.”
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“And I think this election is going to come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states, and I’m concerned that his campaign and running for office as an independent is going to lead to Trump’s election. “And I feel that that will be catastrophic, honestly, for not just our country, but for the world. So, I feel that the stakes couldn’t be higher, frankly. So, you know, I would love more than anything to sit out on the sidelines on this one and not be in this position, but I don’t feel like I can do that.”
