Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and running mate Nicole Shanahan will appear on the California state ballot later this year thanks to the American Independent Party of California. The ticket received the party’s presidential nomination at its recent biennial convention.
According to a press release published by the American Independent Party of California, delegates met this past weekend for the party’s biennial convention in Sacramento, where Kennedy and Shanahan were nominated to be the party’s presidential ticket. Party Chair Victor Marani filed all the necessary paperwork on Monday with the California Secretary of State, officially placing the ticket on the ballot.
It’s worth noting that the American Independent Party of California did not give its ballot line to James Bradley, the winner of the party’s presidential primary in March. He was the only candidate to appear on the ballot, earning 45,565 votes. Bradley also appeared on the ballot for the United States Senate primary during the same cycle.
At around the same time, Kennedy announced news of receiving the party’s support in a video shared on X on Monday. In the video, Kennedy mentioned that a journalist had recently asked him if he considered himself a populist in a negative sense. Kennedy replied that he does identify with the label, but in the same sense as his father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr. He further gave the journalist the example of his father’s 1968 presidential campaign, when the elder Kennedy ran for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Kennedy said he went on to discuss the dual nature of nations and individuals, emphasizing the challenge of resisting “low vibration impulses” like bigotry and fear and striving for unity and collective progress. He then advocated embracing a sense of community and shared purpose. According to Kennedy, his encounter with the journalist resonated with the American Independent Party of California, which he said recently had a rebirth and adopted a new party charter.
“It turns out, when you speak from your heart the way that I did, the ripples extend outward and reach corners you never expected. In this case, those ripples reached the [Independent] Party of California and inspired in their new leadership the idea that they might want to participate in my campaign,” Kennedy said.
“Ironically, the American [Independent] Party was George Wallace’s old party, but it had its own rebirth even before I came along. It’s been reborn as a party that represents not bigotry and hatred, but rather compassion, unity, idealism, and common sense. When they learned about my candidacy, they had just drafted a new charter for their reborn party, where they can use their ballot line for good—for helping independent candidates unite America without being blocked by the two-party system.”
In 2020 the American Independent Party nominated Rocky De La Fuente. And this year one of the AIP’s legislative candidates who will be on the November ballot is African-American.
Hello Ms. Evans…
I wanted to right-click and copy something and found it doesn’t work –including on on several computers I tried. Also cannot open a page/link on tab or new window; and many page links are dead.
Are you aware of this? Or is it something local to me, mebbe?
Thanks.
PS: I posted this elsewhere but not showing up…
Socratic Gadfly, not quite. Wallace had regional support and electors. I think Perot 92 would be a better comparison.
New York is not nearly impossible. It’s easy when you have a lot of money and volunteers , and Kennedy has a lot of both. Kennedy will easily get 50 states and DC.
The AIP nominated Trump in 2016.
I think they’re just trying to stay relevant by coat tailing onto major political figures.
Bob Jr. running in the footsteps of George Wallace!
Are there any IPR readers who are up on ballot access laws and processes who have a view on RFK’s ability to get 50 state ballot access? I’ve heard NY is nearly impossible.