Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is attempting to keep his name off swing-state ballots in an effort to boost former President Donald Trump, but his late-in-the-game exit from the race for the White House has already missed deadlines in several states.
Kennedy has already taken steps to remove his name from the ballot in Arizona and Pennsylvania, two states at the heart of the electoral college battle, the Associated Press reported. But election officials in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin told the news outlet that Kennedy would be unable to do so in their states.
The scion of America’s most famous Democratic political dynasty has encouraged voters in solidly blue and red states to vote for him even after suspending his campaign, but he said he is attempting to avoid taking votes away from Trump in what are likely to be the most closely divided states.
“Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats,” Kennedy said in a speech Friday.
“In about ten battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler,” he said later, “I’m going to remove my name. And I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me.”
While Kennedy said his presence would hurt Trump, it was Democrats who filed legal challenges prior to his exit to remove him from ballots. According to tracking by the New York Times, as of Aug. 19 Kennedy had qualified for ballots in 19 states and his qualification was still pending in nearly two dozen more.
Minor parties in Michigan had an Aug. 6 deadline to nominate a candidate, so Kennedy will remain on the ballot as the candidate from the Natural Law Party, the Detroit Free Press reported. Fox6 News in Milwaukee reported that the Wisconsin Elections Commission doesn’t have a process to cancel a ballot access filing.
In Nevada, Kennedy would have needed to file a candidate withdrawal request by Aug. 20, the Nevada Independent reported. A lawsuit filed by the state Democratic Party aimed at kicking him off the ballot remains pending.
It is unclear if Kennedy would be able to get off the ballot in North Carolina, which Trump carried in 2020 by a little more than a percentage point. News outlets in the state reported that nearly 30 of the state’s 100 counties had started printing ballots by late last week and that mail-in voting begins on Sept. 6.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been nominated by the We The People Party as that party’s presidential candidate to be listed on the ballot,” North Carolina State Board of Elections spokesman Patrick Gannon said in a statement. “That party has not informed the State Board of any plans to change its nomination.”
One unlikely inclusion in the battleground states where Kennedy sought to remove his name is Texas. The Texas Tribune reported that Kennedy withdrew his name from the ballot there.
Republicans have carried Texas in every presidential election since 1980. But Trump defeated Biden there in 2020 by less than 6 points, and a poll in the state released last week found Vice President Kamala Harris shrinking Trump’s lead to 5 points.