Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appeared on 33 ballots even after dropping his independent bid for the presidency, netted 594,000 votes, about 0.4% of the popular vote total, according to reports Wednesday.
Kennedy, who initially ran as a Democrat before switching to an independent campaign, was on the ballots in every state except Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming, reported The Hill.
The Supreme Court in October rejected his appeal seeking to remove him from the ballots in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
Kennedy argued that keeping him on the ballots, after he dropped his independent campaign to back former President Donald Trump in August, was a violation of his First Amendment rights, as it implied he was still interested in running for the White House.
The states said it would be impossible to remove him from the ballots, as early voting had already begun. In Michigan, more than 1.5 million people had returned their absentee ballots and 264,000 had voted early, and in Wisconsin, more than 858,000 people had returned their absentee ballots.
Kennedy on Monday pleaded on X that voters not pick him, even if he remained on their ballots, Forbes reported.
"No matter what state you live in, you should be voting for Donald Trump," Kennedy said in his video. "Let me tell you why. That's the only way that we can get me and everything I stand for into Washington, D.C., and fulfill the mission that motivated my campaign."
But even after Kennedy dropped out of the race, he still had supporters who remained faithful in Michigan and Wisconsin, polls showed.
A poll for the Detroit Free Press conducted by PIC-MRA of Lansing on Oct. 24-28 and released Oct. 31 showed that Harris was ahead of Trump at 48% to 45%, but Kennedy was still drawing 3%.
Further, 5% of Republicans in the poll said they supported Kennedy, along with 6% of independents, reported the Free Press.
In addition, a Marquette University Law School poll conducted from Oct. 16-24 and released Oct. 30 showed that in Wisconsin, Harris was ahead 46% to 44% over Trump, but Kennedy was picked by 5% of the voters polled.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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