Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is seeking an extension of today’s deadline to respond to a lawsuit seeking to remove him from the general election ballot in New Jersey under the state’s Sore Loser Law.
Citing Kennedy’s prior challenge to Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, election lawyer Scott Salmon claims that state law prevents someone from previously competing for a party nomination to flip and run as an independent – and shows where judges have tossed candidates from the ballot for exactly that reason.
Mercer County Assignment Judge Robert Lougy set a July 8 deadline for Kennedy to respond to the lawsuit and a July 17 court hearing.
Kennedy’s local campaign counsel, Donald F. Burke, told Lougy in a letter filed on Sunday evening that he needed more time to file a written response.
Burke is also challenging the legality of Salmon’s electronic service to Kennedy directly, and asked the judge for “guidance from the Court as to whether it intended to allow service electronically to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s personal email address that was obtained by plaintiff Scott Salmon under unexplained circumstances.”
He maintains Kennedy and his campaign have not been properly served.
Salmon sent in his own letter to Lougy late last night explaining the circumstances of his email service to Kennedy.
“There is no actual secret to obtaining Mr. Kennedy’s email. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the New York bar and has used that email to renew his license. I simply performed a couple of Google searches and obtained it. These are all publicly accessible documents,” Salmon said. “Had I not served it on Mr. Kennedy’s personal email address, I am certain that Mr. Burke would be complaining that I served it on the campaign, and not Mr. Kennedy.”
The emails show that Kennedy received Salmon’s electronic service; the morning after it was sent to Kennedy’s personal Gmail account, Kennedy forwarded it to his campaign counsel, Paul Rossi, and copied Salmon.
Salmon told Lougy that he sent a copy of his lawsuit to the email address listed on Kennedy’s nominating petitions the day he filed and then to a Massachusetts post office box listed on the petition and to Kennedy.
In his order, Lougy authorized the complaint to be served on Kennedy “electronically and/or via hand-delivery.”
Salmon is opposing an extension.
“This is only now an issue because Mr. Kennedy sat on his hands. He should not receive the benefit of an adjournment to discuss personal service when he could have done so two weeks ago,” Salmon argues. “Since Mr. Kennedy was plainly aware of this lawsuit as early as June 27, 2024, and was objecting to the electronic service used a week ago, there is no reason not to proceed at this point.”
Salmon notes that Rossi responded to him on July 2, and that Burke “waited almost another week before filing this request for an adjournment at the 11th hour.”
Burke also alleges that Salmon doesn’t have standing to challenge Kennedy’s eligibility for the ballot.
“Salmon has not cited a single case in support of his position that (the statute) applies to presidential elections,” Burke said. “Salmon relies on a dictionary definition of the word ‘sought.’ Salmon’s legal argument, however, ignores the requirement of the statute that to be barred, a candidate must have sought the nomination of a political party to that office ‘in the primary election.’”