Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Qualifies For First State Ballot In Utah

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. qualified to seek access to the ballot in the state of Utah, according to the Associated Press.

Kennedy, who previously ran in the Democratic presidential primary against President Joe Biden, withdrew from the primary in October and is seeking the presidency as an independent candidate. On Wednesday, his campaign obtained the necessary signatures to qualify for the general election ballot in Utah, the AP reported, with it being the first of several states where he has sought ballot access.

Utah Elections Director Ryan Cowley announced the decision, saying that Kennedy had obtained the necessary 1,000 signatures from registered voters across the state to qualify, the AP reported. Kennedy will still have to formally file a petition to appear on the ballot by March 5, the state deadline, to be listed.

Kennedy’s campaign has attracted significant attention due to his family’s history of holding high political offices. He is the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and the son of the late U.S. Attorney General and Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York, who ran for president in 1968 and was assassinated during his campaign.

Kennedy’s policy proposals for his presidency include raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, curbing illegal immigration to the U.S., cutting military spending for investments in social programs and eliminating the interest rate on student loans. He has also promised an aggressive environmentalist agenda, free passport cards to all U.S. citizens as federal identification, an end to mass surveillance by the federal government and a new mortgage bond program to lower the interest rate on mortgages for affordable housing.

Before running for office, Kennedy was known for his environmental advocacy and claims regarding the efficacy of vaccinations, which preceded the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent polls show Kennedy earning at least 20% support in the crucial swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin when running against Biden and former President Donald Trump, the leading candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, respectively. Utah, a conservative-leaning state, has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+13.

Two of Kennedy’s relatives currently serve in the Biden administration: Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy, as Ambassador to Australia, and Joseph Patrick “Joe” Kennedy III, his nephew, as the U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.

“Our ground team and volunteers in Utah pulled off an incredible achievement by collecting thousands of signatures in just one week,” Kennedy said, according to a statement issued by his campaign. “They showed the country the depth of commitment [to] this campaign.”