Shawn Griffiths
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr
The Robert F Kennedy Jr campaign announced Monday that the independent candidate for president has collected more than enough signatures to obtain ballot access in North Carolina, which may end up being a tight battleground state in 2024.
In order to get RFK Jr on the ballot, supporters formed a new political party called "We The People," and collected more than 23,000 signatures, which the campaign says includes a 60% buffer in case the state determines some signatures are invalid.
North Carolina is reportedly the fifth state in which RFK Jr has collected enough signatures to gain ballot access. It is also one of six states supporters have formed a new political party to get him on the ballot, along with California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Texas.
Ballot access laws vary from state-to-state, and some states make it easier on independent candidates to obtain ballot access if they form a state-verified party. The campaign says the political party filings has reduced the signatures Kennedy needs to collect by 330,000 nationwide.
It is part of what the RFK Jr campaign calls a robust strategy to get its ticket on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, which now includes Kennedy's vice-presidential pick, lawyer and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan.
“We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters, and strategists ready to get the job done,” said campaign Press Secretary Stefanie Spear.
A December Quinnipiac Poll found that in a three-person race between Biden, Trump, and RFK JR, Kennedy had 22% support among poll takers. This is significant because if he can show this level of support in nationwide polls closer to the general election, he could qualify for the presidential debate stage.
The Commission on Presidential Debates requires candidates to poll at 15% in 5 nationwide polls handpicked by the commission. Whether the commission, which is bipartisan in founding and composition, stands by these rules remains to be seen.
LEARN MORE: Everything You Need to Know About the Commission on Presidential Debates
Gaining ballot access in a state like North Carolina has the potential to bolster the campaign's momentum. It was a close battleground state in the 2020 presidential election with just 1.34 percentage points separating Biden and Trump. Kennedy could make it an even tighter battleground state in 2024.