Independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will bring his message of being an alternate choice to Wyoming voters next month in hopes of convincing them to vote for him instead of former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden.
Kennedy announced Friday that he’ll hold a rally at Little America Hotel in Cheyenne from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 7.
Kennedy has built his campaign around the premise that neither Biden nor Trump, both expected to be their party nominees, can provide solutions that America needs. If elected president, Kennedy believes he can fix wealth disparity issues affecting the country.
“President Trump and President Biden like to boast about the prosperity that they brought to our country, but in criss-crossing America myself, I’m not seeing evidence of that prosperity,” Kennedy says in a video on his campaign website.
Despite being a former Democrat, Kennedy has expressed skepticism about COVID-19 and vaccines and has taken more conservative stances on issues like Texas’ border standoff with the federal government.
Kennedy will be the first major presidential candidate of the 2024 campaign to visit Wyoming. Trump spoke in Casper in 2022, but that was before officially launching his presidential campaign.
Biden hasn’t spoken in Wyoming since becoming president or in any of his prior campaigns.
What Are His Chances?
Many have accused Kennedy of serving more of a “spoiler” threat to Biden’s campaign than Trump’s.
A recent Quinnipiac poll shows Kennedy outpacing Biden and Trump among independent voters and beating Trump and Biden among voters ages 18-34. This demographic typically has the lowest turnout in elections.
But a New York Times/Siena poll shows Kennedy within single digits of Trump and Biden in six battleground states, and a November 2023 Harvard Harris Poll shows Kennedy with a higher favorability rating among voters than Trump and Biden.
In Wyoming, Kennedy and anyone not named Trump will face an uphill battle, as Trump won the Cowboy State by a larger margin than any other state in 2020.
Third-Party Option
As an independent candidate, Kennedy has launched a grassroots effort to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Getting on the Wyoming ballot as an independent candidate is a relatively low bar compared to some other states. An independent presidential candidate must petition for placement on the ballot and receive as many or more signatures as 2% of the total number of votes cast for U.S. Representative in the most recent general election.
In certain states with higher benchmarks for independent candidates to appear on the ballot, Kennedy has formed a “We The People” party that he will represent in Biden’s home of Delaware, California, Hawaii, North Carolina and Mississippi.
According to The Hill, he also formed a “Texas Independent Party” in the Lone Star State.
On Tuesday, Kennedy announced that he had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the New Hampshire ballot for the general election and has already qualified in Utah.
If Kennedy decides to start a new party in Wyoming, he must get 3,891 signatures by June 1.
In a recent Substack story, Kennedy complained that he finds ballot access laws for independent and third-party candidates among the worst forms of voter suppression in America.
But in his Friday press release, he also expressed confidence that he will get on the ballot in every state.
“Normally, independent candidates pay companies millions of dollars to gather signatures,” Kennedy said in a press release announcing the Wyoming event. “We’re taking a different route that starts with our thousands of volunteers in each state.”
Wyoming donors have given to Kennedy’s campaign, but there’s been more activity for the centrist No Labels political organization in Wyoming, which has already mounted a campaign to get on the Cowboy State ballot for 2024. No Labels has not yet announced a candidate for 2024.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
