Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has officially withdrawn his name from Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot. Commonwealth Court Judge Lori Dumas approved Kennedy’s request to be removed from the November 5, 2024, ballot, following his decision to suspend his third-party bid and endorse Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The court order, filed Friday, instructs the state to remove Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, from the list of candidates for the general election. This move quashes a petition backed by a pro-Biden political action committee that aimed to remove Kennedy from the ballot, which the Judge Dumas dismissed as moot.
Kennedy’s decision to exit the Pennsylvania race followed his announcement of the suspension of his campaign and his endorsement of Donald Trump. Speaking at a press conference in Phoenix, Kennedy said he could no longer justify asking his supporters to continue their efforts.
“Three great causes drove me to enter this race in the first place, primarily, and these are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump,” he said at the rally.
Despite successfully withdrawing from Pennsylvania, Kennedy is set to remain on the ballot in several other battlegrounds where deadlines have already passed.
Though his next steps remain uncertain, Kennedy’s unexpected exit from Pennsylvania—and his endorsement of a rival candidate—has significantly shifted the dynamics of the 2024 election in our swing state.