CNN
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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his running mate on Tuesday, the New York Times reported, citing two people close to the campaign. It was reported as.
The event marks a key moment in President Kennedy's bid for the White House and could accelerate efforts to win voting rights in all 50 states. His running mate, to be announced at an event in Oakland, Calif., will also be tasked with promoting Mr. Kennedy's appeal and helping him raise money for his expensive campaign.
Earlier this month, President Kennedy told CNN he had already “made up his mind” about ticket mates. In addition to Shanahan, other candidates being considered include former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and Republican Sen. Rand Paul. Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former television host Mike Rowe, speaker Tony Robbins and civil rights attorney Tricia Lindsay.
In an interview aired Sunday, Kennedy said his running mate has “connections” to the greater Oakland area.
“The candidate we chose is someone with ties to the area. I also have a great attachment to Oakland. He is the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. one Kennedy told Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU.
Two members of Kennedy's short list of reported candidates have notable ties to the Bay Area. Shanahan was born in Oakland, and she was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Mr. Rogers was born in Chico, California and played soccer there. University of California, Berkeley.
While major party presidential candidates typically announce their running mates near their summer nominating conventions, Kennedy is announcing his running mate now so his campaign can move on to the next phase of its voting access efforts. . According to data provided by the campaign, there are 23 states in which the campaign can begin gathering signatures for voting access petitions as soon as it names a running mate.
Kennedy's goal is to qualify to vote in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., but Utah is currently on the ballot. His campaign has said it has collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in New Hampshire, Nevada and Hawaii, while a super PAC supporting his bid for the White House has collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan. announced that it had collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in South Carolina. .
But his access to voting rights in Nevada could be at risk. In a statement to CNN on Monday, Nevada Secretary of State Spokesperson Cecilia Heston said in a statement to CNN on Monday that the campaign, which had announced earlier this month that it had collected enough signatures to qualify, would be given guidance on accessing the ballot. He said there was an “error” in the statement. The law states that candidates must “nominate their nominee for vice president” in their petition.
Paul Rossi, the Kennedy campaign's ballot access attorney, suggested that Nevada Democrats were trying to block Kennedy from gaining access to ballots in the state, a claim rejected by the Secretary of State's office. “The original error and subsequent legal guidance were never intended to benefit or harm any political party or candidate,” Heston said in a statement.
In addition to numerous hurdles to accessing the ballot, Democrats are trying to rein in Kennedy, who envisions him as a spoiler candidate who could help former President Donald Trump defeat President Joe Biden. There are also challenges. The Democratic National Committee has filed two complaints with the Federal Election Commission in the past two months, accusing pro-Kennedy super PAC American Values 2024 of campaign finance violations and independent voting access. He was accused of illegally coordinating with the Kennedy campaign to run the organization. Initiative. The Hawaii Democratic Party last week objected to the Kennedy campaign's ballot access petition in Hawaii, temporarily blocking it ahead of Thursday's state elections board hearing.
Other than the need to begin collecting signatures in more than half of the remaining states, Mr. Kennedy offered little insight into the type of voters he would target ahead of his vice president's announcement. In an interview with CNN earlier this month, Kennedy said his running mate would be “someone who aligns with my values, who is optimistic about our country and its possibilities, and someone who can immediately run the country.”
Following reports that Kennedy met with Rodgers about potentially joining the campaign, CNN reports that the NFL star shared a conspiracy theory in a private conversation that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was not true. Among them was CNN anchor Pamela Brown. . In response, Rogers said in a social media post that he “never pretended it didn't happen” and called the shooting an “absolute tragedy.” Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Speer said in a statement to CNN that the Sandy Hook shooting was a “horrible tragedy.”
Last week, CNN reported that Robbins and Kennedy had talked about Robbins being Kennedy's running mate in 2023. However, Mr. Robbins made it clear to Kennedy that he did not think now was the right time to run for public office.
Mr. Kennedy has never been president, but he has inspired a small following drawn to his advocacy against public health mandates and the influence of money on government and private business decisions. Kennedy founded Children's Health Defense, an organization that regularly spreads anti-vaccine misinformation, and has promoted anti-vaccine conspiracy theories at campaign events.
His presidential bid began in April 2023 as a primary challenge to Biden. Last fall, he withdrew from the Democratic race and ran as an independent, saying he wanted to fight the two-party system, which he said failed to offer Americans viable options. For the Presidency. His decision to challenge Biden has drawn criticism from members of the Kennedy family, some of whom attended St. Patrick's Day celebrations at the White House last week with the president.
Kennedy has been in dialogue with the Libertarian Party since last year while running for president as an independent. He met party chairwoman Angela McArdle again in February, according to people familiar with the talks. President Kennedy told CNN earlier this year that he was “very comfortable with most of the values of the Libertarian Party.”
Democrats continue to argue that Kennedy will be a spoiler for Trump, even though polls show Kennedy with significant support in key states. It is unclear whether he will attract more support from party candidates. A CNN poll released Friday from Michigan and Pennsylvania (two states that Trump won in 2016 and that Biden flipped in 2020) found Trump (40%) behind Biden, with Biden at 40%. A hypothetical four-way showdown between Mr. Kennedy (38%) and an independent showed Mr. Kennedy winning 16% in Pennsylvania. Candidate Cornel West (4%) won 18% in Michigan, in a similar battle with Candidates Trump (40%), Candidates Biden (34%), and Candidates West (4%).
Both polls showed that Mr. Kennedy has the majority of support among voters who hold unfavorable views of both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, but a majority of those voters have an unfavorable opinion of him. Even though they say they don't know enough to have one.
Bernard Tamas, an independent U.S. researcher, said Americans have historically shown little interest in vice presidential candidates, so the spectacle surrounding Kennedy's announcement may not do much to change the situation. He said he could not.
“Vice presidential candidates, even those from major parties, are not likely to advance the election very much. “sexuality is low,'' said Tamas, who teaches at Valdosta State University in Georgia.
But the Kennedy campaign's running mate has lost money as the campaign navigates an expensive voting qualification process and general campaigns against Biden and Trump, each of whom have raised far less than the Kennedy campaign. It may play a role in promoting collection.
The Kennedy campaign spent about $2.9 million in February while collecting just $3.2 million, leaving about $5.1 million in the bank at the end of the month, according to a new FEC report. American Values 2024 said he spent $8.8 million in February, including $6.2 million on TV ads that aired during the Super Bowl. Mr. Shanahan told The New York Times last month that he had donated about $4 million to help the PAC run ads and coordinate commercial production.
President Kennedy denied prioritizing a running mate's wealth when vetting his options.
“I would never choose a running mate based on how much money they have,” Kennedy said in an interview with NewsNation last week.
CNN's Gregory Krieg contributed to this report.
