WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s attempt to appear on New York’s general election ballot.
Kennedy, who has dropped his own presidential campaign and endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump, is fighting to appear on ballots in certain states over Democratic opposition.
The court rejected the request in a brief order, with no dissents noted.
Democrats have in the past lost elections because of a robust third-party vote. New York, unlike some other states where Kennedy is on the ballot, is not a swing state but Trump has repeatedly said he wants to win his home state.
Earlier this year a Kennedy aide was fired after a video surfaced saying that the campaign’s top priority was to prevent then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden from winning the election by potentially winning states like New York. The campaign denied that was a part of its strategy.
Kennedy’s lawyers said a state court was wrong in concluding that he could not appear on the ballot because of a dispute over his place of residence. Kennedy lives in California but had included a New York address as his residence when circulating a petition to appear on the ballot.
After losing in state court, Kennedy filed an emergency application in federal court, but lost at both the district court and appeals court levels before turning to the Supreme Court.
