RFK Jr spent big but only on three ballots
The campaign led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. focuses on securing ballot access in all 50 states. Initially driven by grassroots efforts, the campaign now relies on consultants, paid petitioners, legal measures, and key figures like petition circulator Trent Pool and campaign director Nicholas Brana. Significant funds have been allocated for these efforts, emphasizing the critical importance of ballot access for campaign success and a thriving democracy.
In an effort to secure ballot access in all 50 states, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has mobilized his operations to rely more on consultants, paid petitioners, and legal action.
In the beginning, Kennedy’s actions were heavily reliant on grassroots efforts and volunteers, but now, the effort to gain access to state ballots is managed by petition circulator Trent Pool and his consulting firm Accelevate 2020, the campaign’s ballot access director Nicholas Brana, and the campaign’s ballot access lawyer Paul A. Rossi. Between November and the end of March, the Kennedy campaign paid Accelevate 2020 $389,000 for campaign consulting. A supporting super PAC has spent at least $2.4 million in ballot-securing efforts.
“Ballot access is existential for any campaign. It is also essential for a healthy and prosperous democracy,” Stefanie Spear, a spokeswoman for Kennedy’s campaign, told the New York Times. “The Kennedy-Shanahan ticket will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters and strategists ready to get the job done.”
Kennedy has gained ballot access in Utah and Michigan and will soon gain it in Hawaii. The campaign has also collected enough ballot signatures to submit in six other states. However, the campaign is delaying its filings to election officials until just before the deadline, with the point of giving the Democratic Party less time to challenge the filings.
While Kennedy’s candidacy is expected to draw voters away from former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Committee has gone on the offensive against Kennedy, having assembled national legal and public relations teams to weaken his influence.
Rossi has already filed three lawsuits on behalf of Kennedy’s campaign that challenge signature collection rules in Idaho, Utah, and Maine.
“Our strategy is to knock out as many ballot access restrictions across the country as possible,” Rossi said.
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Utah’s lawsuit is centered on the disclosure requirements for paid signature gatherers, and in Nevada, Rossi is challenging the likelihood that the campaign’s submitted petition for ballot access was void because it didn’t include a vice presidential candidate. While the rule has been in place for years, a staff member at the state elections office failed to express it to the campaign.
However, friction between consultants and grassroots volunteers has increased, particularly in Hawaii, where Rossi took control over the drafting of bylaws for a new political form to get Kennedy on the ballot. The effort by Rossi took the reins away from volunteers.
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