The U.S. Supreme Court has denied separate appeals by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove his name from the ballots in Michigan and Wisconsin—a move supported by former President Trump.
Kennedy, running as an independent candidate, has been attempting to withdraw from ballots in key battleground states since suspending his campaign in August and endorsing Trump. “Minor party candidates cannot withdraw, so his name will remain on the ballot in the November election,” said Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in a statement to NBC News.
Fox News’ Bill Mears reported that Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett referred the cases to the full Court for a vote. While they had the option to decide individually, election-related cases generally defer to the entire Court. The voting breakdown is unclear, but Justice Neil Gorsuch was the only justice to publicly dissent, and only in the Michigan case.
After suspending his campaign, Kennedy stated he planned to keep his name on the ballot in solidly Democratic or Republican states but wanted to avoid being a spoiler in battlegrounds. “In about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name, and I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me,” Kennedy previously explained. “Our polling consistently showed by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.”
In Wisconsin, Republican commission members supported Kennedy’s effort to exit the ballot after he suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump, but Democratic members opposed, citing state law that requires a candidate who has filed for office to remain on the ballot unless they die. “We know Trump and Kennedy are playing games,” said Democratic elections commission member Mark Thomsen, according to the Associated Press. “Whatever games they’re playing, they have to play them with Kennedy on the ballot.”
With independent and third-party candidates potentially drawing votes, Kennedy’s presence could be critical in a state where four of the last six presidential elections have been decided by margins between 5,700 and 23,000 votes.
