ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Despite Trump suspending his campaign, he asked a state appeals court on Wednesday to reinstate him on New York’s presidential ballot.
A state court earlier this month barred Kennedy from the state’s ballot, finding that he falsely represented himself as a resident of New York state in his nominating petition when in fact he lives in California. The election campaign was suspended He endorsed the Republican Party less than two weeks ago. Donald Trump.
Kennedy has begun withdrawing his name from the ballot in states expected to be close in the presidential race, including Maine, where election officials said on Wednesday he had reached the deadline to withdraw his name from the ballot.
But he is urging supporters to continue helping elsewhere.
In Oregon, Kennedy filed for office as the Populist Party candidate on Monday, three days after dropping out of the race, which elections officials said means for now that his name will appear on the state’s ballot.
Candidates in Oregon have until Friday to withdraw by filing paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office, spokeswoman Laura Karns said, or their names will appear on the ballot.
Kennedy’s public relations team did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Mike Curry, who ran Kennedy’s Oregon chapter, said the move was “an attempt to siphon votes away from Democrats, and Kennedy is clearly taking votes away from Democrats.”
Kennedy’s lawyers, meanwhile, continue to argue that Kennedy is right to continue calling himself a New York resident and that he was not trying to deceive anyone when he listed a friend’s house outside New York City as his home address.
“If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described his residence as the moon, nobody would be confused as to who Robert F. Kennedy is,” his lawyer, Jim Walden, told the intermediate appeals court judges during a brief hearing.
He said courts have in the past deemed addresses on petitions valid absent evidence of deception or confusion, which he argued did not exist in the case of Kennedy, a member of “one of the most prominent political families in American history.”
The lawsuit, backed by a Democratic political action committee, argues that Kennedy’s nomination papers list his home address in the upscale New York town of Katonah. Though he has lived in the state for decades (his father was a New York state senator), he has lived in the Los Angeles area since marrying “Soul Mate” actress Cheryl Hines in 2014.
John Quinn, an attorney for the voters listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told the judge that Kennedy had a legal obligation to fill out the form honestly.
“Mr Kennedy could live anywhere he wanted, but he wasn’t allowed to lie about where he lived,” Quinn said.
A decision from the appeals court is expected shortly.
Kennedy Facing separate lawsuit in state court On Long Island, allegations emerged that contractors used deceptive tactics to gather petition signatures.
___
Associated Press writer Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed.
