Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has enough signatures to appear on Nebraska ballot, campaign says (2024)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic and longtime environmental lawyer who is mounting a bid for the White House as an independent candidate, has collected enough signatures in Nebraska to appear on the state's November ballot, his campaign said Tuesday.

Kennedy's campaign has collected more than 4,800 signatures in Nebraska, according to a Tuesday news release. Independent presidential candidates only need 2,500 valid signatures to appear on Nebraska's general election ballot.

A spokeswoman for Secretary of State Bob Evnen said Tuesday that Kennedy's campaign hasn't yet submitted any petitions to Evnen's office. The campaign has until Aug. 1 to submit the required signatures.

Nebraska would mark the seventh state where Kennedy has secured a spot on the November ballot or cleared the requisite hurdles to do so, according to his campaign.

Kennedy, 70, is already on the ballot in Utah and his campaign has gathered the necessary signatures to be on the ballot in New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina and Idaho, according to Tuesday's news release.

Kennedy, who is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of his slain brother, brought his unorthodox presidential campaign to Lincoln in December, drawing a crowd of several hundred Nebraskans and political tourists as he billed his bid for the presidency as one meant to take the United States back "from the people who stole it."

Kennedy, who holds better favorability ratings among Republicans than Democrats, has said that his intention is to "spoil" the election for both Trump and Biden.

A campaign official for Kennedy in New York, though, has told Republicans in that statethat efforts to put Kennedy on the ballot will help “get rid of Biden."