Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cannot remove himself from the ballot in the two key battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, despite discontinuing his independent run for president and the dynastic Democrat endorsing former President Trump days ago.
Kennedy will remain on the ballot in Michigan as a candidate for the Natural Law Party, which nominated him for president during their convention this year.
“Minor party candidates cannot withdraw, so his name will remain on the ballot in the November election,” Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said in a statement to NBC News.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission, meanwhile, voted Tuesday to keep Kennedy on the presidential ballot, despite his request to be removed, and also rejected a Democratic attempt to oust independent candidate Cornel West. A move by Democratic elections commissioners to keep Green Party candidate Jill Stein off the ballot also failed.
TRUMP ADDS RFK JR., TULSI GABBARD TO HIS TRANSITION TEAM AS HE RECRUITS SUPPORTERS ‘ACROSS PARTISAN LINES’
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former President Donald Trump shake hands during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena on Aug. 23, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. Kennedy announced that he was suspending his presidential campaign. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Trump added Kennedy and former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team on Monday.
Kennedy’s campaign sent the Wisconsin Elections Commission a letter dated Friday asking that his name be removed from the ballot.
Although Kennedy has said in his speech formally dropping out of the race Friday that he would try to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states where his candidacy could be a spoiler, he added that he wasn’t formally ending his bid and said his supporters could continue to back him in the majority of states, whether red or blue, where they are unlikely to sway the outcome.
“In about 10 battleground states where my presence…
