Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s long-shot bid for president has become even more unlikely after a judge ruled Monday that his name should not appear on the New York ballot after he falsely claimed residency in the state on his nominating petitions, despite living in California.
New York Judge Christina L. Ryba concluded in a 34-page decision that the rented room Kennedy, 70, claimed was his residence in the state was not a “legitimate and bona fide residence, but merely a 'false' address he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration” and promoting his political candidacy.
Ryba wrote in the decision that Kennedy's designation of 84 Croton Lake Road in Westchester County as his place of residence “was a misrepresentation requiring invalidation of the petition.”
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s unlikely bid for president has become even more unlikely after a judge ruled that his name should not appear on the New York ballot, declaring that he does not reside there. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“Using a friend's address for political and electoral purposes, without ever setting foot in the place, does not amount to residency under the Electoral Law,” the judge wrote. “To hold otherwise would set a dangerous precedent and open the door to the fraud and political damage that the Electoral Law's residency rules were intended to prevent.”
If the judge's decision is upheld, Kennedy would not appear on the ballot in New York, but it could also lead to challenges in other states where he used a suburban New York City address to gather signatures. On Friday, Kennedy told Fox News' Neil Cavuto that he had enough signatures to appear on the ballot in all 50 states.
The heir to a storied Democratic political dynasty vowed to appeal, dismissing the ruling as partisan. The suit was backed by Clear Choice Action, a Democratic-aligned political action committee on behalf of several voters in the state.
“Democrats are showing contempt for democracy,” Kennedy said in a statement, noting that the judge who ruled is a Democrat. “They have no confidence that they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to prevent voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win.”
“This case is an attack on the voters of New York who signed a record number of ballots to put me on their ballots,” Kennedy wrote in X. “The DNC has become a party that uses legal warfare instead of the democratic electoral process.”
Barbara Moss, who rents the room to Kennedy, testified that he pays her $500 a month, but acknowledged that there is no written lease and that Kennedy's first payment was not made until after the New York Post published a story casting doubt on Kennedy's claim that he lived at the address.
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Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the libertarian FreedomFest conference in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 15, 2023. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
The judge wrote that it was “highly unlikely, if not absurd,” that Kennedy would be able to return to that bedroom to reside with his wife, his family members, several pets, and all of his future belongings,” the judge wrote.
Ryba said evidence presented at trial showed Kennedy had a “longstanding pattern” of borrowing addresses from friends and relatives so he could maintain his voter registration in New York state while actually residing in California, where he has a home with his wife, actress Cheryl Hines.
A poll by Ipsos this week found Kennedy getting about 5% among voters in seven key states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
Clear Choice Action said the ruling shows Kennedy intentionally misled election officials and betrayed the trust of voters.
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The last substantial independent presidential bid was launched in 1992 by Texas populist industrialist Ross Perot. (Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Sygma via Getty Images))
“Kennedy's team will no doubt file one desperate lawsuit after another in the coming days and weeks; they will fail, and that will not change the simple truth: he lied and he is being held accountable,” the organization said.
The last substantial independent bid for president was launched in 1992 by populist Texas industrialist Ross Perot, whose strong performance led critics to claim that his closer ideological proximity to losing incumbent President George H.W. Bush led to the surprise victory of former Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.
Former segregationist Democratic Governor of Alabama George Wallace, who ran as an American independent in 1968, and former Republican President turned liberal Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 round out the last trio of substantial third-party candidates in the modern era.
Charles Creitz of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
