Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified for North Carolina’s general election ballot after gathering nearly double the number of signatures required for an independent candidate, his campaign stated on Monday.
Kennedy’s campaign, which is running under the “We the People” party, collected more than 23,000 signatures in the battleground state, well beyond the 13,865 required to qualify.
Election officials will confirm the signatures, making North Carolina the largest state in which Kennedy has qualified. He is already on the ballot in Utah and has obtained the necessary signatures in New Hampshire, Nevada, and Hawaii.
While North Carolina is the fifth state to place Kennedy on the ballot, his team has stated that it is “actively collecting signatures in 16 states,” with “19 additional states opened for petitioning” since last week’s running mate announcement.
“Kennedy-Shanahan will be on the ballot in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia,” Kennedy’s campaign communications secretary Stefanie Spear wrote in a post on X on Monday. “We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters, and strategists ready to get the job done.”
Five states and counting! Kennedy-Shanahan will appear on the ballot in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. We have field teams, volunteers, legal teams, hired circulators, supporters, and strategists prepared to get the job done. https://t.co/x4q5hSmtZ8 Stefanie Spear (@StefanieSpear), April 1, 2024
Last week, Kennedy introduced Nicole Shanahan, an attorney and internet entrepreneur, as his vice presidential running partner, claiming she “shares my indignation of big tech,” as well as his disgust for the “information warfare that our government is currently waging against the American people.”
Kennedy stated in October that he would leave the Democratic Party to run for president as an independent in 2024. A year ago, the nephew of John F. Kennedy declared his candidacy as a Democrat to oppose President Joe Biden.
“This country is primed for a historic change. “They are ready to reclaim their freedom and independence,” Kennedy stated in October.
Kennedy is running on a platform of reclaiming American independence from large companies, which he claims have gained control of our government, including Big Tech, Big Pharma, and the Democratic and Republican parties.
“Like the Founding Fathers declared their independence from the crown more than two centuries ago,” Kennedy told a crowd in Washington on Oct. 9, “today we declare our independence from the corrupting influence of Wall Street and corporate donors that have rigged our economy for the few at the expense of the many.”
North Carolina is considered a battleground state because it was the fifth-closest swing state in the 2020 presidential race. Former President Donald Trump won the state by barely 1.34% of the vote over President Joe Biden.
