.-') _ .-') _
( OO ) ) ( OO ) )
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,'
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | )
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--'
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
RFK Jr. qualifies for ballot in battleground Michigan
By Aaron Pellish, CNN
Updated:
2:06 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
Independent presidential candidate officially qualified for the ballot
in Michigan, a key battleground state that could prove pivotal in
deciding the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
The campaign announced on Thursday that Kennedy and his running mate
were nominated by the Natural Law Party, a minor party with ballot
access in the state. Natural Law Party of Michigan chair Doug Dern told
CNN the party nominated Kennedy in a convention on Wednesday. The
Michigan Secretary of State’s office confirmed to CNN the party’s
nomination has been approved and Kennedy will appear on the state’s
ballot.
Kennedy’s presence on the ballot in Michigan could alter the
electoral dynamic in a state heavily contested by both President , who
won the state in 2020, and former President , who won the state in
2016. The outcome of the elections in Michigan in both 2020 and 2016
was decided by less than 1% of the vote.
A Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month found Kennedy
polling at 12% among Michigan voters, trailing Trump at 39% and Biden
at 37% in a hypothetical ballot featuring six total candidates. In a
hypothetical head-to-head matchup between Trump and Biden, Trump earned
48% support from Michigan voters, while Biden earned 45% support.
Michigan has backed the Democratic nominee in every presidential
election dating back to 1992, except for Trump’s victory in 2016,
when he narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by less than 11,000
votes in the state. In that same election, Libertarian Party nominee
Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein received more than
220,000 votes combined in Michigan.
The 2016 results in states like Michigan are part of the reason why
Democrats and Biden allies are pushing back sharply against Kennedy,
the most prominent third-party candidate in the race. The Democratic
National Committee has launched billboard ads outside Kennedy events
across the country that attempt to link Kennedy to Trump through
donations to Kennedy’s super PAC from Timothy Mellon, a GOP megadonor
who has also donated to Trump-aligned groups. Some of the DNC’s first
ads attacking Kennedy were placed on billboards in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, outside a Kennedy campaign event in February.
Michigan may be among the states most vulnerable to flipping against
Biden due to having a substantial group of pro-Palestinian voters who
have protested Biden’s response to Israel’s military operation in
Gaza. A grassroots movement led by Arab and Muslim Americans in
Michigan garnered enough support in the state’s Democratic primary
last month to earn more than 100,000 votes for the “uncommitted”
ballot line.
Michigan is the second state where Kennedy has officially qualified for
the ballot. He gained ballot access in Utah earlier this year, and his
campaign has said it has collected enough signatures to appear on the
ballot in New Hampshire, Hawaii, Nebraska, Idaho, North Carolina, Iowa
and Nevada.
American Values 2024, a super PAC backing Kennedy’s presidential bid,
said it has gathered enough signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot in
four states, including Michigan. The PAC’s signature gathering effort
is the subject of a complaint filed by the Democratic National
Committee with the Federal Election Commission, alleging the PAC
illegally coordinated with the Kennedy campaign. The PAC suspended its
signature-gathering operation in March.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
DIR <- back to index