A judge has approved Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to be removed from Pennsylvania’s November ballot.
Kennedy last week sought to withdraw his name as a third-party presidential candidate in the critical swing state as he endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump and suspended his campaign. Commonwealth Court Judge Lori Dumas approved the request on Friday.
“The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall not include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Nicole Shanahan as candidates for President and Vice President of the United States on the November 5, 2024 General Election ballot,” Dumas wrote in her order of Kennedy and his running mate.
Dumas also dismissed as moot a petition filed with the backing of a Biden-allied political action committee that sought to kick Kennedy off the ballot.
In a state where recent presidential elections have been decided by just tens of thousands of votes, Kennedy’s appearance on the Pennsylvania ballot could have affected whether Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris took home the state’s coveted electoral votes.
Recent polls show Kennedy with roughly 4% support among commonwealth voters.
Kennedy said Friday that he will remain on the ballot in many states. “But in about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler,” he said, “I will remove my name and urge voters not to vote for me.”
While Kennedy successfully withdrew his candidacy in Pennsylvania, that may not be possible in other swing states. Officials in Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin told the Associated Press it is too late to remove Kennedy from the ballot in their states.
Four presidential candidates are set to appear on Pennsylvania’s November ballot, as of Aug. 26: Trump, Harris, Libertarian Chase Oliver, and Jill Stein of the Green Party.
Commonwealth Court recently rejected an attempt by independent presidential candidate Cornel West to get on the ballot.
90.5 WESA partners with Spotlight PA, a collaborative, reader-funded newsroom producing accountability journalism for all of Pennsylvania. More at spotlightpa.org.
