RFK Jr. must stay on Michigan ballot, judge rules: ‘Elections are not just games’

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on Michigan ’s general election ballot after a judge in the state sided with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who said it was too late under state law for his name to be removed.

Kennedy suspended his campaign last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump . Since then, he has tried to take his name off the ballot in swing states so as not to take away votes from the Republican nominee, but he has urged voters in solidly blue and red states to still vote for him.

"Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office," Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates wrote Tuesday in a four-page opinion.

"Because the Court concludes that the SOS acted well within the bounds of the law, the Court shall deny the requests by plaintiff for (relief),” Yates continued.

The judge pointed out that Michigan election law is clear that minor party presidential candidates cannot withdraw from the ballot, which Kennedy qualified for after he was nominated by the Natural Law Party. Yates said the deadline for minor political parties to hold nominating conventions has already passed.

Benson has previously pointed to the same law, posting on X the text of the law saying “Candidates who are nominated and accept a minor party's nomination 'shall not be permitted to withdraw.'"

Hi @RudyGiuliani 👋

I know you're no longer a licensed attorney because you made several “demonstrably false and misleading statements” about the 2020 election, so allow me to clarify Michigan law for you.

MCL 168.686a(4): Candidates who are nominated and accept a minor party's… https://t.co/b2BHtWx3jT

It is expected that Kennedy’s team will appeal the decision. In the original filing with the Michigan Court of Claims, Kennedy argued that "election integrity should be the forefront objective of election bureaus and that critically includes providing accurate ballots” and that there was “no compelling reason” for the state to place Kennedy’s name on the ballot.

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Before exiting the race, Kennedy was polling at around 2% of the vote in Michigan, 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 in the state by less than 1 percentage point or 10,700 votes. President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by more than 150,000 votes.

In addition to Michigan, Kennedy will remain on the ballot in Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin as his challenges to remove himself have failed. He successfully took his name off the ballot in Arizona .