Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed his former party’s “contempt for democracy” after a residency legal battle in one state threatened his ballot access across the nation.
Since launching his bid for the White House in Aug. 2023, the immense pushback from the Democrat Party against the environmental lawyer prompted him to switch to an Independent run after the Democratic National Convention sheltered President Joe Biden from primary debates.
Now, a political action committee founded by a former deputy campaign manager to Biden has succeeded in bumping Kennedy from the ballot in New York state after challenging his residency.
As part of her 34-page ruling, New York Justice Christina L. Ryba determined that the rented bedroom in Westchester County that Kennedy had marked as his place of residence on his petition wasn’t a “bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a ‘sham’ address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration.”
“Using a friend’s address for political and voting purposes, while barely stepping foot on the premises, does not equate to residency under the Election Law,” wrote Ryba who deemed using the address “was a false statement requiring invalidation of the petition.”
“To hold otherwise would establish a dangerous precedent and open the door to the fraud and political mischief that the Election Law residency rules were designed to prevent,” argued the judge whose decision would not only keep him off the New York ballot but would pave the way for legal challenges in other states after the address had been used to gather signatures for ballot access.
In a statement following Monday’s ruling, Kennedy asserted, “The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy. They aren’t confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice.”
He further expressed on X, “This case is an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot. The DNC has become a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process. We will appeal and we will win.”
This case is an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot. The DNC has become a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process. We will appeal and we will win. https://t.co/D8rfIogIai
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 13, 2024
Fox News reported that Barbara Moss, the wife of Kennedy’s friend Timothy Hadock, who is said to be renting the room to the candidate, had testified that there was no written lease and his $500 per month payments hadn’t started until after the New York Post had published a story about his claimed residency.
While the Independent candidate sought to combat the decision, the Clear Choice PAC continued its Democrat-aligned effort against third-party candidates, advancing challenges in Illinois and Pennsylvania, according to CNN. Maine Secretary of State Shenn Bellows (D) expressed Monday that she would consider an objection to Kennedy’s ballot access over his New York residency.
“The Kennedy team will undoubtedly file desperate lawsuit after desperate lawsuit in the coming days and weeks; they will fail, and it will not change the simple truth: he lied, and he’s being held accountable,” a statement from the PAC asserted.
In addition to serving Biden’s 2020 campaign, Clear Choice founder Pete Kavanaugh also worked as New Hampshire State Director for then-President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign as detailed on his LinkedIn profile.
CNN further reported that Kennedy had thus far qualified for ballot access in 17 states while his campaign had announced that, after over 1 million signatures nationwide, “more than any candidate in U.S. history,” he qualified to be on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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