Jill Stein failed to qualify for the first presidential debate this week in Atlanta but the presumptive Green Party presidential nominee says she has collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot in another battleground state: Pennsylvania.
With more than a month to go before the deadline to submit the ballot access petition, the Stein campaign plans to keep collecting signatures in President Biden’s native home of Pennsylvania in preparation for the sort of “frivolous” lawsuits the Green Party says it suffered in states such as Nevada where Democrats have challenged the validity of the signatures collected.
“We look forward to being on the PA ballot, following whatever shenanigans the Democrats pull to block us,” Stein spokesperson Jason Call said. “They are doing this to bleed our resources and time, not to keep us off the ballot.”
Asked whether former President Donald Trump and Republicans launched any similar legal challenges, Mr. Call responded, “Democrats only.”
While Democrats have kept tabs on the independent bids of Ms. Stein and Cornel West, they have directed most of their attacks at Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democrat-turned-Indepedent who appeals to a mix of voters.
Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said it is harder for Democrats to attack Ms. Stein and Mr. West because they appeal to a slice of progressive voters that may account for a small part of the electorate, but could make or break Mr. Biden hypercompetitive battleground states.
“Right now, the Stein numbers are mostly coming off Biden, as are the Cornel West ones,” Mr. Miringoff said. “It is potentially a really big deal.”
Though that group of voters represents a small percentage of the electorate, he said, it could be larger than the margin separating Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump in battleground states.
“There is not much the Biden people can do about it because you don’t want to shine too much of a flashlight on it because in the process you might hurt yourself with publicity that you may not want to have,” Mr. Miringoff said.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, told an adoring crowd at a rally in Philadelphia over the weekend he is cheering on Ms. Stein and Mr. West.
“He is one of my favorite candidates, Cornel West. I like her also, Jill Stein,” he said. “I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them.”
At the same time, Mr. Trump slammed Mr. Kennedy as “fake” and a radical liberal, underscoring the Republican’s Kennedy-inspired spoiler fears.
Ms. Stein, who is expected to be named the nominee at the Green Party’s convention in August, casts herself as a warrior for people struggling to make ends meet in “an economy that only works for the wealthy” and to see a better future under “both corporate war machine parties.”
She is running on a platform that includes ending the “Israel genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” enacting universal health care, free college, and free childcare, as well as eliminating student debt, and passing a $25 federal minimum wage.
For many Democrats, Ms. Stein’s 2016 presidential bid made her persona non grata.
They blame her for helping Mr. Trump beat Hillary Clinton. They note how the number of votes she captured in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin surpassed Mr. Trump’s margin of victory in each of those states.
In 2024, those fears have been reignited because Mr. Biden’s path to reelection likely hinges on those same three battleground states.
Ms. Stein is already on the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The deadline for submitting signatures in Pennsylvania is Aug. 1, at which point there is a period to review and legally challenge a petition to appear on the ballot.
Mr. Kennedy announced last week had compiled the requisite signatures to appear on the ballot in Pennsylvania and filed them for approval. He is on the ballot in Michigan.
Mr. West has not qualified for the ballot in any of the traditional battleground states.
The latest Real Clear Politics average of Pennsylvania polls shows Mr. Trump leading Mr. Biden by 44.2% to 41.2%, followed by Mr. Kennedy at 6.2%. Ms. Stein and Mr. West barely register at 1.2%.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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