Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced Monday he has sufficient signatures to make the presidential poll in Texas, throwing yet one more wrench into the Biden-Trump 2024 matchup.
The unbiased candidate turned in 245,572 signatures to the Texas secretary of state’s workplace — twice as many as required — after gathering them in simply two months, his marketing campaign mentioned in an announcement.
The Lone Star State has one of many hardest poll necessities, with unbiased candidates being required to submit a petition with a minimal of 1% of the full votes within the final presidential election.
RFK Jr.’s marketing campaign is probably going securing extra signatures than wanted in case any are challenged.
The Democrat-turned-independent is aiming to get on the poll in all 50 states.
Thus far, his marketing campaign has claimed to have formally made the poll in now six: Utah, Michigan, California, Delaware, Oklahoma and Texas — and mentioned he has sufficient signatures in New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio, for a complete of 14.
Kennedy, 70, is polling greater than any third-party candidate in a long time, with numbers displaying him constantly within the double digits.
A Marist poll conducted in March confirmed the unbiased pol at 15% in Texas, in comparison with former President Donald Trump’s 48% and President Biden’s 36%.
General, Kennedy is averaging 10.8% in a basic election matchup in opposition to Trump, Biden, unbiased candidate Cornel West and the Inexperienced Celebration’s Jill Stein, in accordance with RealClearPolitics.
His relative reputation for a third-party candidate might particularly be related in swing states in November, as Biden and Trump are polling at near a lifeless warmth. RealClearPolitics has Trump averaging at 41.5% general and Biden at 38.8%.
Former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.), who left the Republican Celebration, claimed over the weekend that Kennedy is liable to taking votes away from Trump and that’s why the previous president has lobbed assaults in opposition to him.
“I nonetheless suppose RFK Jr. might take extra from Republicans, and I feel that’s why Donald Trump’s attacking him,” Jolly advised MSNBC.
“He’s a MAGA loopy Republican,” Jolly mentioned of Kennedy. “He’s a vaccine-denier. He denies science, he flip-flops on the difficulty of abortion, and even his personal VP candidate can’t keep up with where he is day to day on a very powerful difficulty going into November.”
Final week, Kennedy mentioned girls ought to be capable to get an abortion at any time throughout being pregnant, stunning running mate Nicole Shanahan, who later claimed, “That’s not Bobby’s place. … He completely believes in limits on abortion.”
Together with RFK Jr.’s battle to get on extra ballots, he has tried to problem Biden and Trump immediately.
Kennedy has asked Biden to jointly conduct a national poll in October, with the settlement that the candidate who has no shot in opposition to Trump in accordance with the survey would drop out.
He has additionally challenged Trump to go head-to-head in a debate on the Libertarian Conference in late Could, set to be hosted in Washington, DC.
Neither marketing campaign has agreed to interact with Kennedy’s concepts.
