RFK Jr. back on Michigan presidential ballot after state Supreme Court ruling
- Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear on the presidential ballot in Michigan, the state's Supreme Court ruled.
- The 5-2 ruling overturned an appeals court decision that had removed Kennedy from the state's ballot over the objections of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
- Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, leads Republican nominee Donald Trump in the state no matter the number of candidates, but her edge shrinks when the race becomes a head-to-head matchup, according to polling averages.
Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear on the ballot in Michigan in November, the state's Supreme Court ruled Monday, a decision that could boost the national candidacy of Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris over GOP nominee former President Donald Trump.
The Supreme Court overturned the state's Court of Appeals ruling Friday that had removed Kennedy from the state's ballot against the wishes of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
The majority decision by the high court on Monday was unsigned. But the text of the order implies that five of the seven justices who considered the case voted to keep Kennedy's name on the ballot.
Harris leads Trump in Michigan polling averages regardless of the number of candidates. But her edge over Trump shrinks in a head-to-head matchup there.
Michigan's 15 votes in the Electoral College — the entity that selects the winners of the U.S. presidential elections — is the second-highest number of any swing state, after Pennsylvania.
When Kennedy suspended his campaign on Aug. 23 and pledged to support Trump, he said he planned to remove his name from ballots in swing states — among them Michigan — where