Impartial presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s possibilities of making it onto the New Jersey poll are being threatened by a lawsuit from a Democratic election lawyer.
Lawyer Scott Salmon filed a swimsuit in New Jersey Superior Court docket Tuesday, accusing RFK Jr. of flouting the Backyard State’s Sore Loser regulation, which precludes candidates from basic election poll entry after shedding a main.
Kennedy, 70, initially mounted his 2024 presidential bid as a Democrat however then switched to run as an impartial final October.
“Frankly, had Defendant Kennedy believed he was prone to have efficiently received the nomination of the Democratic Celebration within the main, he wouldn’t have withdrawn from the election months beforehand,” Salmon wrote in a court docket submitting.
Kennedy’s exit from the 2024 Democratic main got here lengthy earlier than President Biden nabbed enough delegates to attain the nomination. Nevertheless, a bevy of polls made Biden’s dominance clear on the time.
Salmon is identical lawyer who challenged efforts to achieve poll entry by Ye, the rapper previously referred to as Kanye West in 2020. In the end, Ye dropped that gambit for entry in New Jersey.
“I’m representing myself, so I will likely be transferring cash from my financial savings account to my checking account. However critically, no one is paying me to do that,” Salmon defined on X.
“I’m paying for the privilege (and submitting charges) out of pocket as a result of I imagine it’s the appropriate factor to do.”
The Publish has contacted the Kennedy marketing campaign for remark.
Salmon’s submitting implied that Kennedy’s third-party candidacy may cut back the efficiency of his personal vote within the basic election.
“His conduct strikes on the coronary heart of New Jersey’s Sore Loser Legislation, and as such, he should be barred from showing on the poll, and will solely be permitted to wage a write-in marketing campaign within the upcoming election,” Salmon wrote in a court docket submitting.
To this point, Kennedy has poll entry in no less than six states with petition processing underway in simply over a dozen, and signature assortment ongoing in the remainder, per Politico’s tracker of poll entry.
All through his marketing campaign, Kennedy has been vexed by accusations from political strategists on either side of the aisle that he may function a spoiler within the presidential races.
He has dismissed these assertions.
Kennedy is averaging 6.7% in a five-way race towards former President Donald Trump (42.6%), who’s main and President Biden (40.4%), based on the newest RealClearPolitics combination of polls.
The presidential scion has furnished his petition to achieve entry to New Jersey’s poll in Might, however the state is not going to certify his bid till after July 29, which is the deadline for submitting, the New Jersey Globe reported.
One other New Jerseyan who has rankled Democrats with an Impartial candidacy is embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
Menendez introduced in March that he wouldn’t try and defend his seat as a Democrat, however earlier this month, he confirmed that he had filed paperwork to vie as an Impartial.
It isn’t instantly clear whether or not Salmon or another lawyer might try and pursue an identical problem towards Menendez.
Menendez technically didn’t produce the signatures wanted to get poll entry for a run within the Democratic main. His potential Impartial bid comes amid his bribery trial.
