Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends campaign but he missed deadline to stay off Nevada ballot

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressed pause on his third-party presidential campaign Friday and endorsed former President Donald Trump, he said he planned to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states “where my presence would be a spoiler.”

That likely won’t work in Nevada, where he’s missed the deadline to take his name off November’s ballot.

“The last day for an independent candidate for president to file (to run) was August 9, 2024,” said a Nevada Secretary of State spokesperson, citing state law, in an email.

“The last day to withdraw is 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays after August 9, 2024, which was August 20th.”

She added, “Mr. Kennedy has not filed anything with the Secretary of State to withdraw his candidacy.”

The Trump campaign sent out a memo saying that Kennedy endorsing Trump helps the former president more in Nevada than in any other battleground state.

It features a chart with Kennedy getting 4% of the vote in Nevada and breaks out the portions of Kennedy supporters who would vote for Trump, Harris or are undecided if he weren't in the race.

The memo claims Trump would get about half of Kennedy's votes. If these figures were applied to Nevadans who cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election, that would mean a boost of about 28,000 votes for Trump, if his campaign's memo is correct.

At least one pollster sees Kennedy's decision having very little impact nationally.

"The question is, what will the impact be in the swing states?" David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today . "From what we've seen, it's probably going to be marginal."

Kennedy’s poll numbers have been in freefall since midsummer as his campaign has been hit by one scandal after another. They include a former nanny accusing him of sexual assault , news that part of his brain had been eaten by a worm , and him admitting to dumping a dead bear cub in New York City’s Central Park .

In reaction to news Kennedy was suspending his campaign, five of his siblings released a statement calling his endorsement of Trump "a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear” and adding “It is a sad ending to a sad story.”

Trump thanked Kennedy for his endorsement during a campaign stop in Las Vegas.

“He’s a great guy, respected by everybody,” Trump said .

Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page .

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends campaign but he missed deadline to stay off Nevada ballot