Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to seek New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes in his independent bid for the presidency, his state director and advisor, Jamel Holley, told the New Jersey Globe.
New Jersey has relatively easy ballot access for independent candidates, with just 800 signatures needed to get on the ballot for the presidency – that’s 200 less than what Joe Biden and Donald Trump needed to qualify for the primary ballot.
“We’re getting ready to start getting petitions signed,” said Holley, a former Democratic assemblyman and Roselle mayor. “We have a crew of over 300 volunteers. There’s overwhelming support for Bobby.”
The filing deadline is June 4 at 4 PM.
Kennedy, the son of former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, initially challenged Joe Biden in the Democratic primary but launched his independent bid last year.
On Monday, he picked Nicole Shanahan, a tech entrepreneur from California, as his running mate. Kennedy needed his running mate to begin circulating his petitions.
“I’m seeing a seismic shift in engaged voters that I’ve never seen before,” Holley said.
According to Holley, Kennedy has raised $2.3 million in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Four years ago, 2% of New Jersey voters cast their ballots for one of six independent presidential candidates, down from 3.2% in 2016.
Libertarian Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, received 1.9% in 2016, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein won slightly less than 10% in New Jersey.
Few independent presidential candidates have broken the 5% mark in New Jersey: Ross Perot received 8.5% in 1996 and 15.6% in 1992; Illinois Rep. John Anderson won 7.9% in 1980; and former Alabama Gov. George Wallace got 9.1% in 1968. In 1948, former Vice President Henry Wallace won just 2.2% as a progressive candidate for the presidency.
In 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt, running as the independent Bull Moose Progressive candidate, finished second in New Jersey. The state’s governor, Woodrow Wilson, beat him, 41%-34%, with President William Howard Taft running third with 20.5%. Wilson carried seventeen counties, with Roosevelt winning Cumberland, Essex, Ocean, and Passaic.