Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. may have made headlines last month for suspending his independent run for president and endorsing Donald Trump, but he is now finding himself in a legal battle to try and get his name removed from the ballot in several key states.
On Monday September 9, the Supreme Court of Michigan determined that Kennedy’s name will stay on the presidential ballot come November, dashing the independent candidate’s hopes of removing his name as he tries to throw all his support behind Trump.
Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign on August 23 and instead endorsed Trump, noting that he was doing so because the GOP candidate stands for free speech, opposes the ongoing war in Ukraine, and wants to protect citizens from the “war on our children.”
But the former Democrat was uninterested in thwarting Trump’s votes in key states, and he made his best effort to remove his name from ballots—which has proven to be quite the challenging legal request. On August 30, Kennedy filed a lawsuit against Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Secretary of State, to remove his name from that ballot.
But the state’s Supreme Court overruled a decision from the Court of Appeals which initially pointed to the possibility of his name being removed. Now, though, Kennedy will remain on the battleground state’s ballot even though he is no longer campaigning. In the order, the court explained that the former candidate “has not shown an entitlement to this extraordinary relief,” leading to the decision.
Meanwhile, Kennedy has had some luck on the East Coast. Also on Monday September 9, the Supreme Court of North Carolina agreed to remove his name from the state ballot, with a 4-3 decision that decided it was more important to present accurate ballots to voters rather than focusing on the hassle that will come from reprinting ballots.
Absentee ballots in the Tar-heel State were delayed since Kennedy suspended his campaign and sought to remove his name, meaning they could still not be ready for another two weeks.
