JEFFERSON CITY — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is trying to make Missouri’s 2024 general election ballot.
To have a shot at Missouri’s 10 electoral votes, Kennedy’s campaign will need to turn in at least 10,000 voter signatures to the Missouri secretary of state by July 29.
“We are actively collecting signatures in Missouri and have several hundred so far,†Stefanie Spear, spokeswoman for the Kennedy campaign, said this week.
The campaign was “on par to turn in the 10,000 required signatures by the July 29 deadline,†she said. “We are continuing to grow our field team and volunteer base in the state.â€
Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, had launched his presidential campaign as a Democrat but has since pivoted to an independent run.
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Kennedy last month held a rally in Kansas City and his campaign bus was viewed traveling west on Interstate 70.
He is challenging President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the race.
Kennedy rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for his embrace of public health conspiracy theories and has a loyal following of people who reject the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective.
found nearly a quarter of voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin said they were leaning toward supporting Kennedy.
Kennedy said earlier this week he had filed to run as a 2024 presidential candidate in Utah after meeting the 1,000-signature requirement needed to appear on that state’s ballot.
Utah is the first state where Kennedy’s campaign submitted signatures and qualified for ballot access, Spear said. She expected Arizona may be next.
Kennedy criticized the many barriers to ballot access for candidates not backed by a major political party, saying the requirements in some states make it almost impossible to challenge the “chokehold†that Republicans and Democrats have over U.S. politics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.