SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear on the ballot in California, home of the nation's largest electoral college, in his bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the role of the next president of the United States.
Kennedy said in a video released Monday afternoon that he and his running mate, patent attorney Nicole Shanahan, are officially on the Golden State’s ballot as the American Independent Party of California’s nominee for president.
The candidate already secured his place on the ballots in Utah and Michigan. His campaign representatives say that he has enough signatures to soon get on the ballot in seven other states including New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, Idaho and Iowa.
Kennedy said in his video statement that he considers himself a “populist" and compared himself to his deceased father, who was assassinated while on the presidential campaign trail in 1968. He said the party has moved on from its history connected to segregationist candidates like George Wallace.
“The more difficult thing is what my dad tried to do and what I’m trying to do during this election, which is to get people to step away from their narrow self interests,” he said.
Kennedy — an attorney who battled various environmental lawsuits in courts in California, including a stint serving as a trial attorney in two Monsanto trials handled in Oakland — positioned himself as an alternative for former Democrats who are suspicious of the government and corporations managing agriculture and pharmaceuticals, including Pfizer and Monsanto.
However, some environmental advocacy groups wrote an open letter earlier in April urging voters to reject Kennedy based on his views on climate, warning his candidacy could help Donald Trump win reelection and erode "vital environmental and social gains made to date.”
The Natural Resources Defense Council, a climate advocacy group where Kennedy served as senior attorney for 28 years, said it will run a full-page advertisement opposing his candidacy in newspapers in six battleground states.
Members of Kennedy family also endorsed Biden for reelection in April, following Kennedy Jr.'s use of imagery from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential run in a TV advertisement for his own campaign during the 2024 Super Bowl. Kennedy said at an April 21 campaign event in Detroit that he did not hold any ill will toward those relatives who do not support his campaign.
The candidate has proven himself a controversial figure in the 2024 presidential election, in part due to his statements about vaccines attacking the public health community’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and his association with influential right-wingers.
In February, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint against a Super PAC it accuses of illegal coordinating with Kennedy to support his White House bid, reflecting Democratic worries about third-party candidates potentially siphoning support away from Biden.
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