A ballot access challenge against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nominating petition in Maine has been dropped following the submission of a letter to the Maine Secretary of State’s office withdrawing the challenge. The hearing was initially scheduled for Wednesday, August 14.
Shortly after Independent Political Report discussed a Maine Press Herald article on Tuesday regarding challenges to the nominating petitions of both independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Cornel West, the Maine Secretary of State’s office released a notice that the challenge against Kennedy had been withdrawn by the challenger.
“The challenge to the petitions filed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to nominate slates of candidates for the office of presidential elector has been withdrawn by the challenger,” the Secretary of State’s office stated. “The challenge from James Stretch of Topsham had been received by the Secretary of State on Thursday, Aug. 8. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows accordingly dismissed the matter, and the hearing scheduled for Aug. 14 at 9 a.m. is cancelled.”
The letter from Stretch withdrawing his challenge did not provide details on why he suddenly decided to drop it. The Maine Press Herald article referenced by IPR reported that the effort appeared to be associated with the Clear Choice Action super PAC, which has been targeting the ballot access efforts of third party and independent presidential campaigns in certain states. An archive of past presidential campaign press releases further indicates that Stretch was the Maine State Director for President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
A separate hearing regarding the nominating petition of Dr. Cornel West following two challenges is still expected to take place later today. West’s hearing is scheduled for 1:00 PM EST, with readers able to watch through the Maine Secretary of State’s official YouTube channel.
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