Cornel West boosted by Trump allies to get name on Wisconsin ballot

WASHINGTON — Liberal activist Cornel West's efforts to get his name on the ballot in Wisconsin as an independent presidential candidate received a boost from Republican operatives who helped collect petition signatures for his candidacy.

The involvement underscores how allies of Republican nominee Donald Trump have worked to lift the candidacies of third-party candidates to help the former president's chances in the November election in closely contested battleground states.

Four individuals employed at the Republican-aligned political canvasing firm Blair Group Consulting worked as circulators who gathered signatures in support of West's candidacy in Wisconsin, according to petitions submitted with the Wisconsin Elections Commission this month and reviewed by USA TODAY.

Wisconsin has a threshold of at least 2,000 verified signatures of residents in the state to qualify to run as an independent presidential candidate. The commission on Aug. 27 is set to consider West's nominating petition for the November ballot.

More: From RFK Jr. to Cornel West: Could third-party presidential candidates tip the 2024 scales?

Although the left-leaning academic West, 71, is only registering in low single-digits nationally in most polls, his support could be enough to swing results in states decided by razor-thin margins. West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are widely considered more likely to pull support from Democratic nominee Kamala Harris than Trump, while some recent polls have shown independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy hurting Trump more than Harris.

The Democratic National Committee has been scrutinizing efforts of third-party candidates to qualify to run in states. Democrats are still haunted by election spoilers from past elections; most notably, consumer rights activists Ralph Nader, who many Democrats blame for costing the 2000 election to Al Gore, and Stein in 2016.

Blair Group Consulting describes itself on its website as a full-service consulting firm that works with "conservative political campaigns." The company is led by president David Blair , executive director of the Conservative Leadership PAC and former national director of Youth for Trump in 2016. Blair later worked in the Trump administration as an assistant press secretary in the Agriculture Department.

West has labeled his independent run for president the "Justice for All" party." In West's 823-page nominating petition in Wisconsin, signatures collected by the employees of the Republican firm are interspersed with other signatures seemingly gathered by West supporters.

Dausin Olberding, one of the paid circulators for West signatures in Wisconsin, works as vice president of field operations at the Republican-aligned Blair Group Consulting and previously worked for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign in Iowa while serving as the chairman of a young Republicans group in Iowa.

Another petition collector who submitted signatures for West's campaign was Arik Amundsen, who holds the same title at the same consulting firm. A biography on the firm's website says, "Arik has always had a passion for protecting and preserving constitutionally conservative values." Amundsen is listed as a 2024 Oklahoma Republican delegate by the state's Republican party.

Olberding and Amundsen also operate Red Wave Field Strategies, a Republican canvassing firm based in Iowa. Matan Bar , who lists himself on LinkedIn as a voter contact specialists for Blair Group Consulting, also collected petitions for the West candidacy in Wisconsin, as did Simon Molina , a canvasser at the same firm.

Blair did not respond to multiple requests for a comment, nor did the West campaign. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"In a state where the latest trends show a tight race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, our successful signature drive in Wisconsin is a clear indicator of the people's desire for an alternative voice in this critical election," West said in a press release last week that touted submitting more signatures that the required 2,000.

In a statement, DNC spokesman Matt Corridoni said: "Only two candidates have a path to 270 electoral college votes: Donald Trump and Vice President Harris. Republicans know that a vote for a Third Party candidate is a vote for Donald Trump and that's why they've been more than eager to prop up spoiler candidates throughout this election cycle."

Links reported in other states as well

Links between West's petition efforts and Republican firms have surfaced in other states as well. NBC News reported on employees of other Republican canvassing firms collecting signatures in North Carolina and Arizona , both key swing states.

And allies of Trump have focused their third-party efforts beyond just West. For example, in heavily Republican North Dakota, USA TODAY in June encountered Charles Tuttle, a conservative activist, outside the state capitol collecting signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot while wearing a Trump lanyard around his neck.

"I believe RFK will take votes away from Biden," Tuttle said with a laugh, a month before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the new Democratic nominee.

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West has been certified to appear on the ballot in eight states, but only North Carolina is considered a battleground. Several other states like Wisconsin are viewing West petitions. .

The West campaign is an operation with limited operations, last month reporting just $24,520 in the bank to spend at the end of June after raising $1.22 million during the second quarter from April 1 to June 30 but spending an almost equal $1.19 million.

West is currently polling below 1% nationally in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, below Kennedy's 5% and Stein's 1%.

"We’ll have to see in real time," West said in an interview on CNN in April when asked whether he's worried his candidacy could help get Trump elected. "What we gotta be is true to our calling, telling the truth, and seeking justice, and standing and in solidarity with oppressed people here and around the world.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cornel West boosted by Trump allies to get name on Wisconsin ballot