RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada election officials have verified enough signatures for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.The state’s top election official confirmed Friday that he will campaign to appear on Nevada’s ballot, likely bringing his rebellious bid to shake up Republican and Democratic dominance in U.S. elections to a crucial and hotly contested state.
Kennedy has built a following with a famous name and a loyal base, and he has the potential to do better than any independent presidential candidate in decades. Strategists from both major parties fear he could tilt the election against them, though a major blow to his campaign came when he failed to qualify for the CNN debate in June. He instead held a separate event where he responded in real time to questions posed to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
There may still be room for legal challenges. Last month, state and national Democrats filed a lawsuit challenging Kennedy Jr.’s position on the Nevada ballot as an independent because of his ties to political parties in other states.
The verified signatures came from a petition the Kennedy Jr. campaign submitted as soon as possible after the office of Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar clarified guidelines that would likely invalidate his original petition because he had not named a running mate.
The campaign had filed a lawsuit against Aguilar’s office over the state’s requirement that independent candidates name their running mate before collecting signatures. The campaign said it received approval from Aguilar’s office in January, allowing it to collect the required number of signatures on a petition that did not mention his vice presidential nomination.
Aguilar’s office said in a statement that it had sent appropriate guidance to all independent candidates who filed ballot access petitions “well in advance of the deadline for submitting signatures.”
In late March, Kennedy Jr. chose California lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
State and county election officials have verified more than 22,000 signatures on the new petition, well over the required 10,000.
