Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has officially secured a spot on the Michigan ballot, a critical swing state that could play a decisive role in the 2024 presidential election. The announcement came from the Kennedy campaign on Thursday, stating that Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, were nominated by the Natural Law Party, a minor party with ballot access in Michigan.
Doug Dern, the chair of the Natural Law Party of Michigan, confirmed to CNN that the party nominated Kennedy at a convention held on Wednesday. The Michigan Secretary of State’s office has also confirmed the party’s nomination, ensuring Kennedy’s appearance on the state’s ballot.
With Kennedy on the Michigan ballot, the electoral dynamics in the state could shift significantly. The state has been a hotly contested battleground for both President Joe Biden, who clinched victory in 2020, and former President Donald Trump, who won in 2016. The margins in both these elections were razor-thin, with less than 1% of the vote deciding the outcome.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll revealed that Kennedy is polling at 12% among Michigan voters, trailing Trump at 39% and Biden at 37% in a hypothetical six-candidate ballot. In a direct face-off between Trump and Biden, Trump secured 48% support from Michigan voters, while Biden garnered 45% support.
Michigan has consistently backed the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1992, with the sole exception of Trump’s 2016 victory, where he narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by less than 11,000 votes. In the same election, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein received over 220,000 votes combined in Michigan.
The 2016 results in states like Michigan have prompted Democrats and Biden allies to push back against Kennedy, the race’s most prominent third-party candidate. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has initiated a billboard campaign linking Kennedy to Trump, highlighting donations to Kennedy’s super PAC from Timothy Mellon, a GOP megadonor who has also contributed to Trump-aligned groups. The DNC’s first ads targeting Kennedy were displayed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, outside a Kennedy campaign event in February.
Michigan could be among the states most susceptible to flipping against Biden, given its substantial group of pro-Palestinian voters who have protested Biden’s response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza. A grassroots movement led by Arab and Muslim Americans in Michigan secured over 100,000 votes for the “uncommitted” ballot line in the state’s Democratic primary last month.
Michigan is the second state where Kennedy has officially qualified for the ballot, following Utah earlier this year. The Kennedy campaign has also claimed to have collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot in New Hampshire, Hawaii, Nebraska, Idaho, North Carolina, Iowa, and Nevada. American Values 2024, a super PAC supporting Kennedy’s presidential bid, has reportedly gathered enough signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot in four states, including Michigan. However, this signature gathering effort is currently under scrutiny, with the DNC filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging illegal coordination between the PAC and the Kennedy campaign. The PAC suspended its signature-gathering operation in March.
This story will be updated with additional reporting as it becomes available.