RFK Jr. is eligible for November ballot, N.J. secretary of state says • New Jersey Monitor

New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way said Wednesday that Robert F. Kennedy will appear on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate in November’s general election.

Way’s ruling ends a months-long effort by election attorney Scott Salmon to keep Kennedy from appearing on the ballot this fall. Salmon accused Kennedy of having flouted the state’s Sore Loser Law, which prohibits candidates who unsuccessfully seek a political party’s nomination from running as an independent for the same office.

Salmon has argued that because Kennedy announced a bid to seek the Democratic nomination for president, raised money for that effort, and even opened a campaign office in New Jersey before deciding to seek the White House as an independent, he is not eligible to run for president as an independent. But Way’s 8-page decision says the legislative intent of the 1998 law is to prevent candidates who run in a primary election and lose from then launching a third-party bid for the same office.

“There is no record evidence that Kennedy, Jr. expended significant resources to appear on the ballot in the Democratic Primary in New Jersey — as opposed to nationwide efforts — prior to his abandoning efforts to seek (the) Democratic nomination,” wrote Way, who is also lieutenant governor.

Salmon said that while he still believes Kennedy should be barred from the ballot, he is pleased Way clarified when the Sore Loser Law applies and “put reasonable guardrails in place.” Way’s decision says candidates are subject to that law if they file petitions to seek a party’s nomination or if they engage in an active write-in campaign.

“I view this decision as a major victory for our understanding of New Jersey’s election laws, and for that, it was well worth the effort,” he said.

Salmon originally filed his complaint about Kennedy’s eligibility in Mercer County Superior Court, where a judge dismissed the matter and told Salmon his challenge should have gone to the secretary of state’s office.

Salmon filed that complaint last week, and it was heard by Administrative Law Judge Ernest M. Bongiovanni, who said Tuesday that Kennedy had not formally filed to run as a Democrat in New Jersey, and thus was not subject to the state’s Sore Loser law. Bongiovanni also said Salmon’s challenge of Kennedy’s nominating petitions should have been filed in June.

Way rejected Bongiovanni’s contention that Salmon filed his complaint late.