As Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign battles state-by-state for access to the ballot, he has often credited dedicated volunteers and grassroots supporters for driving the effort forward. .
Indeed, the organization has become increasingly reliant on consultants and paid petitioners, whose signature-gathering efforts have had mixed results and raised questions of impropriety among Mr. Kennedy’s fans. Kennedy’s campaign is deploying a multi-pronged strategy to get him on the ballot in all 50 states, his goal. It’s aggressive legal action, shrewd political alliances, and surprise filing tactics aimed at delaying or thwarting challenges.
In most states, Mr. Kennedy, 70, an environmental lawyer and heir to an American political dynasty, faces thousands of cases under diverse, complex and sometimes confusing rules that change even the local authorities that administer elections. A signature must be submitted. The effort has already cost his campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars and the supporting super PAC at least $2.4 million, according to federal campaign finance records. It involves a number of experts who specialize in getting people on the ground with clipboards and petitions and helping candidates navigate the complex process. Their success will determine the success or failure of Kennedy’s campaign.
Kennedy was on the ballot this month after winning the nomination of a small party in Michigan, a key battleground state in the presidential election. He overcame opposition from local Democrats and will soon be officially on the ballot in Hawaii. As of Sunday, the campaign said it had collected enough signatures to file six petitions. Other states are expected to make announcements this week, including New Hampshire, Nevada and North Carolina.
“Access to the vote is essential to any campaign. It’s also essential to a healthy and thriving democracy,” campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Speer said. “The Kennedy v. Shanahan ticket will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We have field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulars, supporters, and strategists ready to get the job done. is being arranged.”
It’s unclear whether Kennedy’s presence on the ballot poses a greater electoral threat to President Biden or former President Donald J. Trump. Opinion polls suggest he could draw votes from candidates from both major parties in the general election. But Democrats have been more openly concerned about Kennedy’s candidacy, dedicating domestic legal and public relations teams to weakening his influence.
Kennedy’s campaign says the Democratic effort involved old-fashioned political chicanery.
Some of Mr. Kennedy’s advisers regularly accuse the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Secretary of State of collusion against Mr. Kennedy, and that the party and its allies have issued non-compete agreements to prospective workers. The lawsuit states that he tried to prevent his campaign from hiring him by offering him large sums of money. That would effectively prevent them from supporting Mr. Kennedy.
Democrats have rejected such efforts.
“RFK Jr. has never come across a conspiracy theory that he doesn’t like, and that obviously extends to his bizarre fantasies about the DNC, none of which are rooted in reality.” said strategist Rhys Smith.
At a rally in Iowa this month, Mr. Kennedy told the audience that the “DNC law firm” had tried to hire the campaign’s voting access lawyer for $1 million a year. (A Kennedy campaign official said Mr. Kennedy was referring to Paul A. Rossi. But Mr. Rossi said the offer from the company, which he did not name, would sideline him.) It wasn’t a problem, it was just the timing.
Mr. Rossi is a lawyer who specializes in federal litigation seeking to block state and local restrictions on issuing petitions and gathering signatures, and will be critical in developing Mr. Kennedy’s state-by-state strategy. has played a role. He worked closely with Texas petition publisher Trent Poole, whose company Accelerate 2020 is a paid consultant to the campaign, and Nicholas Brana, the campaign’s director of voting access. We are collaborating.
Mr. Rossi’s tactics initially ended up nudging at least one ally in the wrong direction. Earlier this year, when his campaign was seeking the nomination of the Michigan Natural Law Party, which already had a seat on the state’s ballot, Mr. Rossi directed party chairman Doug Dern.
“‘Do this, do this, do this,'” Dern said. “He seemed really pushy and like he was yelling at me and ordering me around. I just emailed him back and said, ‘Who the hell are you?'”
But the two men quickly resolved the situation, with Mr. Rossi expressing his admiration for Mr. Dern in an interview and allowing Mr. Kennedy to participate in the vote. The campaign could form similar alliances in other states to win votes for smaller parties.
The campaign is intentionally delaying notifications to election authorities. Mr. Kennedy’s strategy is to collect the necessary signatures in certain states, but he plans to delay filing the actual ballot petition until just before the deadline to give Democrats less time to challenge the filing.
“The Democratic National Committee knows this is coming,” Spear said. “We would be remiss to give the Democratic National Committee more time to challenge access to the ballot.”
In his interview, Rossi emphasized the importance of legal strategy. His team preemptively filed three lawsuits on behalf of Kennedy’s campaign, challenging ballot access and signature collection rules in Idaho, Utah and Maine. He said he plans to try in New York state. This month’s campaign is collecting signatures ahead of a May 28 deadline.
“Our strategy is to remove as many ballot access restrictions as possible across the country,” Rossi said. He called it a “widespread attack” aimed at supporting not just Kennedy but future candidates.
In Utah, for example, Mr. Rossi’s legal efforts continue even though his campaign has already secured access to ballots. The lawsuit there challenges disclosure requirements for paid signature collectors, among other rules.
In Nevada, another battleground state, it was revealed last month that a petition with more than 15,000 signatures submitted by the campaign seeking voting access in the state did not include its running mate. Rossi said he intended to take legal action. Therefore, it is most likely invalid under state law. Records show the rule has been in place for years and was communicated to candidates in a memo in early March, but state elections officials did not clarify in email exchanges with campaigns. .
In a March 25 statement, Mr. Rossi blamed “the rogue forces at the Democratic National Committee and their minions in the Nevada Secretary of State’s office,” inaccurately saying they “completely fabricated the new requirements for petitions.” stated.
The Secretary of State responded that the staff’s “inaccurate guidance” was a simple mistake. “The initial error and subsequent legal guidance were in no way intended to benefit or harm any political party or political candidate.”
Mr. Rossi and Mr. Poole have worked to end Mr. Kennedy’s grassroots volunteer signature-gathering efforts and outsource the work to experts.
Some of Mr. Kennedy’s early supporters said they felt marginalized by the influx of paid consultants, and the National Vote Access Team cited Mr. Kennedy’s decades of ties with anti-vaccine and environmental groups. He added that his activities have created antagonism with some of Mr. Kennedy’s longtime supporters.
For example, a rift between volunteers and paid contractors created friction in Hawaii after Mr. Rossi took over drafting ordinances for a new political party formed to get Mr. Kennedy on the ballot, people familiar with the matter said. That’s what it means. The original volunteer is out.
Rossi praised the efforts of volunteers, but said the bulletproof application was most important and “it must be complemented by experts.”
Petitions may also be costly. Petitioners may be paid a signature or hourly rate depending on their state. A listing in Albany, New York, posted on Craigslist last week is paying $40 an hour to “confident and enthusiastic individuals who walk around their local area collecting signatures” to get Kennedy on the New York ballot. It is stated that the
Records show that between November and the end of March, the Kennedy campaign paid Accelerate 2020 $389,000 for “campaign consulting,” including $300,000 last month.
Rossi has not yet submitted an invoice to his campaign.
“The only way to remove the restrictions on ballot access is to file a lawsuit,” Rossi said. “It’s time-consuming, expensive, and piecemeal.”
