Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump, but he’s still going to be on the ballot in North Carolina, hurting Trump’s prospects in the state.
The state’s board of elections voted 3-2 on Thursday to keep Kennedy on the ballot, saying that it would be too difficult to remove his name, as many ballots have already been printed. The board’s executive director, Karen Brinson, said North Carolina has already printed close to 1.73 million ballots in over 60 counties, with special ballots being prepared for overseas military members and the disabled.
Kennedy had asked the state to remove him from the ballot, but the board’s Democratic majority thought otherwise, overruling the two Republican board members. Last week, Kennedy said he was seeking to withdraw his name from battleground state ballots while staying on in other states, hoping to divert votes away from Harris and boost Trump.
North Carolina is only the latest battleground state that won’t drop Kennedy from their ballots. Election officials in Michigan and Wisconsin announced Tuesday that their states won’t remove him. According to polling averages from The Hill, Kennedy’s presence on both Wisconsin and Michigan’s ballots gives a slight boost to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
The quixotic ex-candidate is already part of Trump’s presidential transition team, helping to craft policy and select staff members should the Republican presidential nominee win in November. The move has drawn the ire of at least one major GOP donor in Eric Levine, who described Kennedy as “an anti-vax kook who sees conspiracies behind every tree and under every bed.”
Trump supporters, including Kennedy, are not likely to welcome the news that he could still pull votes away from Trump. They also might not think highly of whatever deal Kennedy may have struck with Trump in exchange for his endorsement. Much like they are stuck with Trump and J.D. Vance, the GOP is now stuck with Kennedy to their possible peril.
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