American Values 2024, a fundraising “Super PAC” supporting third party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said on Tuesday it plans to spend up to $15 million getting him on the ballot in 10 states that will be important to winning the 2024 race.
Quick Read
- Significant Fundraising Goal: American Values 2024 (AV24), a Super PAC, announced plans to spend up to $15 million to support third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in getting on the ballot in key states for the 2024 presidential race.
- Cross-Party Appeal of Kennedy: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is perceived to have cross-party appeal, has successfully raised millions of dollars, and is showing promising levels in opinion polls, akin to a third-party candidate’s performance in the early 1990s.
- Challenges in Ballot Access: Despite Kennedy’s popularity and fundraising, the critical issue remains his ability to get on state ballots, a process that has been made difficult by the Republican and Democratic parties over time.
- Target States for Ballot Access: AV24 aims to collect signatures in 10 important states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, and Texas. These states require a significant number of signatures and represent about half of the national total needed for Kennedy’s ballot access.
- Fundraising Success of AV24: Since Kennedy, the son of the assassinated Democratic Senator, announced his independent run in October, AV24 was on track to raise nearly $30 million, partly fueled by contributions from Timothy Mellon, a former donor to Donald Trump.
- Strategic Focus on Battleground States: Deirdre Golffard, an advisor to AV24, emphasized the selection of critical and battleground states for their campaign due to the complexities of state election codes and the substantial number of signatures needed for ballot access.
Reuters has the story:
RFK Jr. backer to spend $15 million to get him on 2024 ballots
Newslooks- WASHINGTON, (Reuters)
American Values 2024, a fundraising “Super PAC” supporting third party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said on Tuesday it plans to spend up to $15 million getting him on the ballot in 10 states that will be important to winning the 2024 race.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
While Kennedy is believed to have cross-party appeal, has raised millions of dollars and is faring at levels not seen by a third party candidate since the early 1990s in opinion polls, none of it matters if he can’t get on state ballots – a cumbersome process made deliberately difficult by the Republican and Democratic parties over the years.
WHAT IT INVOLVES
AV24, as the Super PAC calls itself, will spend money to collect signatures by hand, as state law requires, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, and Texas, which it says represent approximately half of the signatures nationwide that Kennedy needs to get on the ballot in November.
AV24 was on track to raise nearly $30 million after Kennedy, son of the Democratic senator who was assassinated in 1968, said in October he would run as an independent, AV24 co-founder Tony Lyons told Reuters. Millions have come from a former donor to Donald Trump, Timothy Mellon.
NOTABLE QUOTE
“We have chosen to pursue these critical states, some of them battlegrounds, due to the complexity of the state election codes and the volume of signatures necessary to achieve ballot access,” said Deirdre Golffard, who advises the Super PAC.
