Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be on the Texas general election ballot this November, despite Democrat’s efforts to keep him off of the ballots.
Texas Democratic Party officials challenged Kennedy’s application, claiming that most of the petition signatures he gathered were invalid. However, after a thorough review, state Elections Director Christina Worrell Adkins confirmed in a letter on Thursday that Kennedy’s application had been accepted. “Your name will appear on the ballot for the 2024 General Election as an independent candidate for the Office of President of the United States,” Adkins stated.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office announced that Kennedy’s petition has gathered 122,512 valid signatures. Texas election code requires a petition to have at least 112,151 valid signatures.
Kennedy’s ballot appearance has faced challenges from Democratic officials in multiple states, arguing his campaign used misleading tactics while collecting signatures. According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas Democrats, who haven’t won a statewide election in over 30 years, view Kennedy’s independent bid as a potential threat to their chances of breaking that streak.
However, now that President Joe Biden decided to withdraw from the race, Kennedy has had a strange effect in the polls: he is taking more votes from Trump than from Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to the Washington Post, polls where third-party candidates and Kennedy results in Harris having more points adventaging Trump. A poll conducted by the Marquette University Law school, gave Harres leading Trump by six points (53 percent to 47 percent) in a head-to-head matchup; in a race including Kennedy and third-party candidates, Harris led Trump by eight points (50 percent to 42 percent).
So far, Kennedy has confirmed ballot access in 14 other states, but he has claimed having access in about 29 other states.
