Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he has qualified for the presidential election in California, giving his candidacy a slim chance of winning 54 electoral votes this autumn.
If his place on the ballot is certified by California's secretary of state, which could happen in August, Kennedy would represent the American Independent Party. The Secretary of State's office confirmed to the Times that Kennedy's candidacy had been submitted by the party.
The party has a controversial history dating back to 1968, when it nominated Alabama Governor George Wallace as its presidential candidate. He ran opposing desegregation and other federal civil rights laws by defending states' rights. Kennedy's father, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a New York Democrat, was murdered in los angeles the night he won that year's California presidential primary.
Kennedy says he has qualified for elections in California, Hawaii, Michigan and Utah. He has been investing heavily and, although he is running as an independent, he is seeking alternative paths to the election since he opted not to run in the Democratic primary late last year. He recently selected Technology lawyer, entrepreneur and political newcomer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
In a video statement released Tuesday, Kennedy said the American Independent Party was “very impressed by this outpouring of democratic energy and vigor. …So they approached my campaign and offered us their spot on the California ballot. “I see this story as a symbol of America coming home.”
Kennedy added that he saw Wallace as a “bigot” who “was the antithesis of everything my father believed in.”
In recent years, the AIP has been a source of confusion for voters seeking to avoid registering as Republican or Democrat.
In California, voters can register as no party preference, but The Times reported In 2016, tens of thousands registered with AIP, many of them by mistake. Almost 3 in 4 people did not know they had joined the party, according to a poll of registered AIP voters conducted for The Times.
The AIP now exists only in California. Wallace won 46 national electoral votes as a standard-bearer in 1968, one of the most successful third-party candidacies in modern history.
The AIP today is not segregationist. In recent years, officials he told the Times “It is a conservative and constitutionalist party.” He has opposed abortion.
The March 2024 California primary voter guide said AIP members “are all refugees from the Republican or Democratic parties. We believe that the Constitution is the contract that the United States has with itself. Its deliberate distortion led to the violation of the right guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment to limited government, which inevitably requires oppressive taxation. Its faithful application will alleviate that burden.”
In a statement Tuesday, AIP state president Victor Moroni said: “We all deserve to find inspiration at the ballot box. Our party is pleased to provide the opportunity for California's 22 million voters to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president. “Voters long for a real leader who will unite America.”
The measure could have an impact on the presidential race in California, but not enough to change the expected outcome.
TO march survey from UC Berkeley's Institute of Government Studies and The Times found that President Biden leads former President Trump by 18 percentage points statewide in a head-to-head matchup. That fell to 12 points when independent and minor party candidates were included.
In battleground states, Kennedy's ability to qualify for election could prove critical. In Michigan, as in California, Kennedy clung to a smaller party, the Natural Law Party, which long held an electoral line. His success in these efforts appears to have led Trump to intensify his attacks on the Los Angeles resident. The former president said on social media over the weekend that Kennedy is “far more LIBERAL than anyone running as a Democrat.”
In Michigan, recent polls have shown that the race essentially tied between Trump and Biden, with Kennedy a distant third. Polls in other battleground states show a close race, but Trump leads in most cases.
Kennedy's campaign has come under attack from Democrats, who see him as a spoiler who could result in another term for Trump. They point out his extreme opinions and his misinformation about vaccines.
In a 2021 podcast, Kennedy told parents to “resist” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines on vaccinating children. Over the years it has spread falsehoods about the effectiveness of vaccines and, more recently, said that COVID-19 lockdowns were something a totalitarian state would do, comparing them with the conditions of Nazi Germany.
