Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to supporters during a campaign stop, Monday, in Austin, Texas. | Eric Gay/APThe campaign turned in more than twice the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot in Texas, which requires more than 100,000 signatures from registered voters.
Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, are now on the ballot in four states. They have finished signature gathering in nine more and are circulating petitions for 29 others. Getting ballot access as an independent candidate after quitting the Democratic Party primary in October seemed unlikely for Kennedy. Typically independent candidates must plan for months or even years before launching a third-party candidacy.
The campaign has succeeded in gathering signatures in states with strenuous requirements like Texas and New York while also pursuing other avenues to ballot access. In California, which would have required 75,000 signatures, and Michigan, Kennedy enlisted the help of existing third parties that already have a spot on the November ballot. In Iowa, his campaign hosted a one-day convention to nominate him with the backing of 500 registered voters from across the state.
Kennedy has relied on a combination of volunteers and paid signature-gatherers. The campaign has spent $390,000 on professional signature gathering from Trent Pool’s firm Accelerate 2020 as well as about $34,000 on other ballot access consulting, according to the campaign’s financial disclosures to the FEC.
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