The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a push from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove himself from the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin, two critical 2024 battleground states.
Kennedy had hoped the court would grant him an emergency ruling that would order election officials in the two Midwest states to remove his name from the ballot. How the justices voted was unclear, but Justice Neil Gorsuch offered a brief dissent in Kennedy’s Michigan appeal.
In a statement posted to X after the ruling, Kennedy said that election officials in Wisconsin and Michigan were playing politics by forcing him to stay on the ballot. Kennedy endorsed Trump in August and has since campaigned across the country for the former president.
“The Supreme Court has unfortunately today sided with the Secretary of State of Michigan and Wisconsin, both Democrats, to undermine election integrity and leave my name on the ballot in both those states,” he said. “It is a purely political move in the hope that folks who would have otherwise voted for Trump will throw away their vote by voting for me instead.”
“Don’t let them undermine this election. Don’t be fooled. I am off the ballot in every other state I have sought to get off of other than Michigan and Wisconsin,” Kennedy added. “So, if you are in Michigan or Wisconsin, please make sure to vote for Donald Trump — DO NOT VOTE FOR ME. Together we will Make America Healthy Again!”
In his petition to the court, Kennedy’s lawyers argued that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the Wisconsin Election Commission were violating his First Amendment rights by forcing him to stay on the ballot.
“By recertifying the ballot to include Kennedy’s name as a presidential candidate, the Secretary has compelled his speech in violation of the First Amendment,” Kennedy’s lawyers wrote of Benson. “A review of the aforementioned facts clearly demonstrates that Secretary Benson has compelled Mr. Kennedy’s speech and, therefore, violated his Constitutional rights.”
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This First Amendment argument was included in a dissenting opinion from Justices Chad Readler and Amul Thapar when Kennedy’s case was heard at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In his dissent, Gorsuch indicated that he agreed with Thapar and Readler.
“This case presents a question of exceptional importance: Does forcing a person onto the ballot compel his speech in violation of the First Amendment? The repercussions of that question are enormous,” Thapar wrote. “If a candidate can’t stop his name from appearing on the ballot, could battleground states put President Joe Biden back on their ballots?”
Benson and the Wisconsin Election Commission argued that it was too late to remove Kennedy from the ballot and would create a burden for election workers.
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have spent significant time campaigning in Michigan and Wisconsin. According to recent polling, Trump and Harris are in a statistical tie in both states.
