Current:Home > NewsRobert F. Kennedy Jr. mulls running for president as Libertarian as he struggles with ballot access-InfoLens
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mulls running for president as Libertarian as he struggles with ballot access
View Date:2024-12-23 16:44:39
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is looking into running for president as a Libertarian, since he still faces significant hurdles in gaining ballot access in the vast majority of states as an independent candidate.
"That's something that we're looking at," he told CNN's Michael Smerconish Monday, in response to a question about whether he'd consider a Libertarian bid.
"We have a really good relationship with Libertarian Party," Kennedy added.
Kennedy, who began his pursuit of the presidency as a Democrat early last year and then left the party to run as an independent, noted that at the end of February he'll be addressing California's Libertarian Party convention.
"We are talking to Libertarian Party. I feel very comfortable with most of the values of the Libertarian Party...and like I say, we have good relationships. I'm talking regularly to Libertarian groups. So, we'll continue to do those talks," Kennedy said.
Smerconish played a a podcast interview from last fall with the head of the Libertarian Party, Angela McArdle. She, too, said the party and Kennedy had been having "a lot of good conversations" and are "on good terms."
"I respect his decision to want to go independent. But Libertarians really admire the strong position against mandates and lockdowns, and so we're going to stay on friendly terms and see what happens," McArdle said on the podcast.
Kennedy has qualified for the ballot in only one state so far, Utah. He has also met the signature threshold in New Hampshire but hasn't filed because his campaign is still finalizing its paperwork.
An individual who wants to run for president essentially has two avenues to ballot access — running as an independent candidate or as the nominee of a party. The two major political parties have presidential ballot lines in all 50 states, but other parties must collect signatures and meet individual state ballot access requirements. The Libertarian Party succeeded in obtaining a ballot line in all 50 states in both 2016 and 2020, but it's not clear whether it has achieved full ballot access for 2024 yet.
In some cases, the number of signatures required may be lower for a party than it is for independent candidates seeking ballot access. With this in mind, earlier this month, Kennedy's campaign filed paperwork to create a new political party called "We the people" in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi and North Carolina. In Texas, the campaign created the "Texas Independence Party" as a way to lower the signature threshold.
"The number of signatures needed to get Kennedy on the ballot in every state has been reduced by about 330,000, a third of the total needed nationwide" the campaign said in a press release in Jan. The number was originally about 1 million nationwide.
"We have our own political party now in six states, which have rules that give us an advantage to have our own political party," Kennedy said.
However, while it's true the number of signatures required may be lower for new parties than for independent candidates, in some cases, winning ballot access will be more difficult. That is, instead of collecting signatures on a petition, some states, like California and Delaware, require a certain number of voters to register for the "We the People Party" to get Kennedy on the ballot.
In California, the Kennedy campaign will need to convince 75,000 voters to register for his "We The People" party. As an independent candidate, he would have had to collect 219,403 signatures to get on the ballot. In Delaware, the campaign will need to win over 760 voters and get them to register for Kennedy's new party. An independent bid would require 7,676 signatures.
- In:
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Cristina Corujo is a digital journalist covering politics at CBS News. Cristina previously worked at ABC News Digital producing video content and writing stories for its website. Her work can also be found in The Washington Post, NBC and NY1.
veryGood! (99)
Related
- Fantasy football buy low, sell high: 10 trade targets for Week 11
- Jayden Maiava to start over Miller Moss in USC's next game against Nebraska, per reports
- Zooey Deschanel Shares the 1 Gift She'd Give Her Elf Character
- Man faces fatal kidnapping charges in 2016 disappearance of woman and daughter in Florida
- New York nursing home operator accused of neglect settles with state for $45M
- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney challenged at poll when out to vote in election
- Banana Republic Outlet Quietly Dropped Early Black Friday Deals—Fur Coats, Sweaters & More for 70% Off
- New Hampshire will decide incumbent’s fate in 1 US House district and fill an open seat in the other
- US wholesale inflation picks up slightly in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Another round of powerful, dry winds to raise wildfire risk across California
Ranking
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- Kentucky voters to decide fate of school choice ballot measure
- NFL trade deadline grades: Breaking down which team won each notable deal
- Central Michigan voters are deciding 2 open congressional seats in the fight for the US House
- Disease could kill most of the ‘ohi‘a forests on Hawaii’s Big Island within 20 years
- The GOP expects to keep Kansas’ open House seat. Democratic Rep. Davids looks tough to beat
- Arizona voters to decide on expanding abortion access months after facing a potential near-total ban
- Boeing strike ends as machinists accept contract offer with 38% pay increase
Recommendation
-
John Krasinski Details Moment He Knew Wife Emily Blunt Was “the One”
-
Lopsided fight to fill Feinstein’s Senate seat in liberal California favors Democrat Schiff
-
The Daily Money: Your Election Day roundup
-
Alaska voters deciding a hard-fought race for the state’s only U.S. House seat, election issues
-
West Virginia governor-elect Morrisey to be sworn in mid-January
-
The GOP expects to keep Kansas’ open House seat. Democratic Rep. Davids looks tough to beat
-
America reaches Election Day and a stark choice between Trump and Harris
-
Strike at Boeing was part of a new era of labor activism long in decline at US work places