Where RFK Jr. and third-party candidates are on and off the ballot as deadlines approach

As Vice President Kamala Harris ’s and former President Donald Trump ’s campaigns move forward as the mainstream candidates, some third-party candidates still made a splash this election cycle.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign last week and endorsed Trump, saying he would take his name off the ballot in swing states to minimize his role as a spoiler. Green Party candidate Jill Stein and liberal independent candidate Cornel West are still running their campaigns despite polling around 1%.

Here is where third-party candidates will be, won’t be, and might be on the ballot this November.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

When Kennedy ended his campaign and endorsed Trump, he encouraged people in solidly red and blue states, where he would be unlikely to sway the outcome, to vote for him. While he has tried to take his name off the ballot in swing states, he has had little success. He will appear on the ballot in the swing states of Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. He successfully took his name off the ballot in Arizona .

Kennedy is on the ballot in the following states:

Alaska  California  Colorado  Delaware  Hawaii  Indiana  Iowa  Louisiana  Maine  Michigan  Minnesota  Nebraska  Nevada New Mexico  North Carolina  Oklahoma  Oregon  South Carolina  Tennessee  Utah  Vermont  Washington  West Virginia  Wisconsin

Kennedy’s access to the ballot is awaiting confirmation in the following states and the District of Columbia:

Alabama  Arkansas  Connecticut  Georgia  Idaho  Illinois  Kansas  Maryland  Massachusetts  Missouri  Montana  New Hampshire  New Jersey  North Dakota  South Dakota  Virginia  Washington, D.C.

Kennedy will not be on the ballot in the following states:

Arizona  Florida  New York  Ohio Pennsylvania  Texas  New York

Earlier this month, Kennedy lost a legal challenge in New York after a court deemed his New York address, which he used to file for ballot access, invalid. The Kennedy campaign inferred his ballot access could be threatened in dozens of other states where he used the New York address, but the matter became moot after his exit from the race.

Michigan

Following Kennedy's exit from the race, Michigan said it was too late for Kennedy to withdraw his name from the ballot. Nevada and North Carolina also said it was too late for Kennedy to withdraw his name, and Wisconsin certified his appearance on its ballot this week.

“Minor party candidates cannot withdraw, so his name will remain on the ballot in the November election,” Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, told Axios .

In the Wolverine State, Kennedy was polling at around 2% of the vote, which equates to about 167,820 votes. In 2016, due in part to the presence of third-party candidates, Trump narrowly beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by less than a percentage point, or 10,700 votes. President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by more than 150,000 votes.

Jill Stein

Stein will be on the ballot in the following states:

Arkansas Arizona  California Colorado Florida  Hawaii Louisiana  Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Jersey North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Texas South Carolina Utah Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a challenge from the Democratic National Committee to kick Stein off the ballot. Democrats argued Stein and her running mate should be barred from appearing on the general election ballot because Stein’s party, the Green Party, does not hold any statewide offices or have the state legislative candidates needed to nominate presidential electors.

In 2016, Stein was viewed as a spoiler candidate here, as well as in Michigan and Pennsylvania, as she took in votes from the left wing of the party in small margins but larger margins than Clinton lost the state. In Wisconsin in 2016, Stein earned about 31,000 votes while, at the same time, Trump beat Clinton by 24,000 votes.

Cornel West

West will appear on the ballot in the following states:

Alaska Colorado Louisiana Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Nebraska North Carolina Oregon South Carolina Vermont Washington Wisconsin Arizona

In August, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said West’s campaign did not file the proper paperwork to get ballot access in the state before the certification deadline.

Michigan

West won a legal battle in Michigan after Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Redford ruled that the state was wrong to disqualify West from the ballot after the state cited problems with West's petition. Redford ruled Michigan had “misapplied the law” by ruling that the affidavit of identity filing requirement applies to presidential candidates when “the AOIs the candidates filed cannot serve as a mechanism to exclude them from the ballot.”

Pennsylvania

Earlier this week, West lost a legal challenge to gain ballot access in Pennsylvania due to insufficient paperwork.

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Wisconsin

West is set to appear on Wisconsin’s ballot, in part thanks to help from Republican operative signature gatherers . Documents from the Wisconsin Elections Commission reviewed by USA Today revealed that four people who are employed at the Republican-aligned political canvassing firm Blair Group Consulting worked to gather signatures on behalf of West’s candidacy.

Polling indicates that West is poised to take votes from Harris this election.