Kennedy to appear on Kansas ballots as he seeks to remove himself in key swing states

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., got the 5,000 signatures needed to qualify as an independent candidate for president in Kansas, the Kansas Secretary of State's Office confirmed Friday.

Kennedy suspended his campaign on Aug. 23, and endorsed former President Donald Trump. He says he now seeks a role in Trump's administration to advocate for free speech protections, oppose government corruption and transform America's health.

Kennedy was polling at about 5% nationally, and in Kansas he hasn't been included in polls with the two other main presidential candidates. A John Zogby Strategies poll, assuming a head-to-head matchup between Kennedy against Democratic or Republican nominees in Kansas, showed him two points behind Trump and 12 points ahead of President Joe Biden in April.

Getting off the ballots

Kennedy is on the ballot in 21 states and won't appear in 10 states. He has enough signatures to appear on the ballot in another 16 states, and is awaiting confirmation.

But Kennedy's campaign sought to remove his name from 10 key battleground states, fearing he could spoil the election for Trump.

"Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues," Kennedy said.

Kansas is not one of the states the Kennedy campaign is worried about spoiling, and he's had varying degrees of success getting his name off the ballot in swing states, with seven withdrawing him and three keeping his name on the ballot.

The Kennedy campaign didn't respond to a request for comment on whether it would seek to remove his name from Kansas ballots.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: RFK gets enough signatures to compete in Kansas after endorsing Trump