Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former Democrat running for president as an independent, is on track to appear on the ballots in Arizona and Georgia, two critical swing states that will help decide who wins the 2024 election.
The Kennedy-aligned Super PAC, American Values 2024, announced it has collected enough signatures to qualify in the two states, which were critical in helping President Biden defeat former President Trump in 2020.
Mr. Trump lost in Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes and was defeated in Arizona by fewer than 10,500 votes. The two states combined have 27 electoral votes.
Nationally, Mr. Kennedy is attracting 14% of the vote against Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, according to averages calculated by Real Clear Politics. Democrats fear he’ll draw support away from Mr. Biden in critical swing states where the president is already trailing Mr. Trump.
In Georgia for instance, Democrats warned Mr. Biden’s sagging approval ratings and support from Black voters could make it difficult for him to win the state again. Mr. Kennedy is aggressively courting Black voters. Mr. Trump is leading Mr. Biden by nearly seven points in the Peach State.
Mr. Kennedy is on the ballot in Utah and has collected enough signatures to appear on the ballots in New Hampshire and Hawaii.
American Values 2024, a Super PAC backing Mr. Kennedy, is working to collect enough signatures in Michigan, another critical battleground state, and nine other states.
“The grassroots energy and momentum give us more confidence than ever in our ability to knock out the remaining states on our list of states quickly,” Tony Lyons, co-founder of American Values, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint against the PAC with the Federal Election Commission, alleging it is making unlawful, in-kind contributions to help the candidate win ballot access. The Democrats contend the PAC last year received $15 million from transportation executive and GOP major donor Timothy Mellon, who also donated $15 million to MAGA Inc., which is strongly backing Mr. Trump.
“This blatant disregard for federal law undermines the integrity of our democracy and electoral process, and the FEC must act decisively to put an end to this troubling scheme,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said.
American Values’ Mr. Lyons called the “unhinged,” accusing the DNC of “playing political games that pose an existential threat to democracy at the same time that they claim to be trying to protect it.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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