Dem
49
GOP
51
Robert Kennedy Jr. now realizes that his presence on the ballot in key swing states will hurt his master, Donald Trump. That wasn't the game plan. He now wants to get off the ballot everywhere, certainly in the swing states. However, the deadlines to get off in Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have already passed, so Kennedy has entered Hail Mary mode and is suing to get off the ballot because, well, he changed his mind.
On Tuesday, a Michigan judge ruled that no, he cannot be removed from the ballot. State law is clear on the deadline and changing your mind after the deadline has passed doesn't change state law, even if you blame your indecision on your brain worms.
In North Carolina, it is very unlikely that his lawsuit will prevail because not only did he miss the deadline, but the ballots have already been printed and are due to be mailed out on Monday. The state is going to argue that having to print new ballots would not be possible without missing ballot-mailing deadlines embedded in state law. No judge is going to order a state to violate state law like that. There is a tiny chance Kennedy might win in court in Wisconsin, but most likely he will lose that one too.
Kennedy will not appear on the Arizona ballot because he requested to be removed just before the deadline. So that's a "win" for him, at least. But in three key swing states, there his name will be, right along with Jill Stein and Cornel West. And since most of the Kennedy-backing Democratic-leaners appear to have returned home with the advent of Kamala Harris' candidacy, the only major-party candidate he'll likely hurt is The Donald. (V)