Judge says RFK Jr. should be on New Jersey ballot

The judge said the state's Sore Loser Law does not apply to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who sought the White House as a Democrat before launching a third-party bid. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should remain on New Jersey’s ballot as an independent candidate for president in November, an administrative law judge said Tuesday.

Administrative Law Judge Ernest M. Bongiovanni said Kennedy did not formally seek the Democratic nomination for president in New Jersey before he opted to seek the White House as an independent instead, so the state’s Sore Loser Law does not apply to him. That law prohibits candidates from running for elected office as an independent the same year they failed to secure the nomination of a political party. 

Election attorney Scott Salmon has tried to keep Kennedy’s name from appearing on November’s ballot, citing Kennedy’s attempt to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nod for president and pointing to funds Kennedy raised in New Jersey for that effort.

But the judge said Salmon’s interpretation of the law is “overbroad.” Giving speeches, raising campaign funds, and issuing press releases are “all activities conducted nationwide and not for the specific benefit of New Jersey Democratic primary election votes,” Bongiovanni wrote.

A candidate is determined to unsuccessfully seek a political party’s nomination after filing a declaration of candidacy and submitting nomination petitions for the primary, or conducting a write-in campaign. Bongiovanni said Kennedy’s team took none of those actions. 

Bongiovanni also noted that while Kennedy raised money from New Jersey donors, it is “well known that Presidential campaigners do not participate in every primary where states hold primaries.” He said Kennedy only made “preliminary plans” to run as a Democrat nationally. 

“Although Kennedy received a very small number of write-ins during the Democrat primary, there was absolutely no evidence that those votes were sought by him of any effort of the Kennedy campaign,” the decision reads. 

Bongiovanni’s recommendation that Kennedy is eligible for the ballot now heads to Secretary of State Tahesha Way, who makes the final decision. Way is also lieutenant governor.

In a Tuesday letter to Way asking her to reject Bongiovanni’s recommendation, Salmon noted that Kennedy appeared in New Jersey at least once to seek support for the Democratic nomination for president in September 2023, a few weeks before he decided to run for president as an independent.

“The only evidence in the record on this point is a press release from Mr. Kennedy stating that he was opening a New Jersey campaign headquarters, campaign expenditures for events held in New Jersey, and a campaign speech in which Mr. Kennedy actively asked New Jersey voters to support him and help him obtain support,” Salmon wrote. “This is the definition of actively seeking support for an upcoming election. And so the only evidence in the record explicitly shows Mr. Kennedy seeking the support of New Jersey voters.”

This is the second time Salmon’s attempt to keep Kennedy from getting on the ballot has been rejected by a judge. Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy dismissed a similar case last week, saying that challenge should have gone to Way’s office.

New Jersey is not the only place where Kennedy is facing ballot problems. A group of New York voters say Kennedy should not win a place on the November ballot because he used an address that is not his own on his nominating petitions. 

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