RFK Jr. must remain on the Michigan ballot, judge says

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must remain on the November presidential ballot, dealing a blow to his crusade to strategically remove his ticket from the battleground state.

Kennedy suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump in August. Since then, he has sought to withdraw his name in states — like Michigan — where the race could be close. At the same time, he is trying to remain on the ballot in states where he is unlikely to make a difference between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit Friday in Michigan's Court of Claims against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, in an effort to withdraw his name. Michigan's election officials had previously rejected Kennedy's notice of withdrawal.

The Associated Press asked the secretary's office for comment on the Court of Claims order that came down Tuesday.

In a post on X earlier in the day, Benson said under Michigan law, candidates who are nominated and accept a minor party’s nomination “shall not be permitted to withdraw.”

Kennedy argued in the lawsuit that his notice of withdrawal was timely and the electorate’s votes could be "diminished and rendered invalid” if he remains on the ballot. He filed a similar lawsuit in North Carolina on Friday, where he is trying to withdraw his name from the ballot.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher P. Yates concluded that the secretary of state rightly rejected Kennedy’s request to be removed from the ballot.

“Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office,” Yates said in his opinion and order.

Aaron Siri, an attorney for Kennedy in the Michigan lawsuit, said that keeping Kennedy's name “upends ballot integrity.”

“We agree with the judge that elections are not games, and that is precisely why the court should have let Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. withdraw from the ballot," Siri said in a written statement.

Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum" on Tuesday, Kennedy said, “We’re trying to get off the ballot in all the states where I might be a spoiler and cause harm to President Trump.”

Wisconsin election officials said last week that Kennedy must remain on the ballot there, rejecting his request to withdraw.

Last week, a different Michigan Court of Claims judge ruled that liberal independent candidate for president Cornel West must remain on the ballot, an opinion welcomed by West's campaign.

Kennedy and West, prominent third-party candidates, are at the center of multiple legal and political battles across the country as Democrats and Republicans seek to use the impacts of third-party candidates who could take support from their opponents. Republican allies in multiple battleground states such as Arizona and Michigan have sought to keep West on the ballot amid Democratic fears he could siphon votes from Vice President Kamala Harris.