Independent presidential candidate, Robert Kennedy Jr., filed paperwork this past Thursday, June 20, to be placed on the Pennsylvania ballot for this coming November’s election.
Kennedy, no stranger to the political arena—his family name considered one of the most prominent in all of American politics—made a splash last year when he abandoned his Democratic primary challenge to Biden and began running as an independent.
Since becoming a third-party candidate, Kennedy has faced an uphill battle to receive the required signatures to be on each state’s ballot. According to his campaign, RFK Jr. has already acquired enough signatures to secure a ballot appearance in 24 states.
Pennsylvania, a swing state considered the most hotly contested prize with 19 electoral votes at stake, has been a focus for all candidates.
Current polling from Emerson College shows Trump at 47% ahead of Biden at 45% in Pennsylvania, with Kennedy at 5%.
While both the Republican and Democratic camps have expressed concerns that RFK Jr. may take votes away from their candidate, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) stated more supporters will likely leave Biden’s camp.
The DNC has taken steps to thwart Kennedy’s plan to get on the ballot in each state by attacking Kennedy’s Super PAC and filing a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), accusing the candidate of a “ballot access scheme.”
In response Kennedy’s campaign called the accusations by the DNC “a nonissue being raised by a partisan political entity that seems to be increasingly concerned with its own candidate and viability.”
Before entering politics, Kennedy was a well-known environmental lawyer and activist.
