Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the late New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, has submitted petition signatures to qualify to run in Tennessee's November election.
According to a campaign announcement, Kennedy's team submitted 1,025 signatures to the Tennessee Secretary of State's office for verification.
Candidates from either of the two major parties, the Democratic or Republican Party, must gather 2,500 signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot, while independent candidates only need to submit 275 signatures.
“Ensuring that Mr. Kennedy appears on every state's ballot is important to me because I believe in the concept of freedom, for which I fought and for which so many of my brothers died,” Tommy Aceto, a campaign volunteer in Tennessee, said in a statement.
Kennedy has appeared on the ballot in eight states so far and has filed petitions in 13 more.
In May, Kennedy and his running mate, tech veteran Nicole Shanahan, appeared at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for a campaign event, though Shanahan arrived four hours late, citing a family emergency, and did not make any campaign comments.
According to his campaign website, the environmental lawyer's policies include ending what he calls “the chronic disease epidemic,” providing a tax-free 3 percent government-guaranteed mortgage bond to address soaring home prices, and reducing abortions.
Kennedy has gained notoriety for promoting the scientifically disproven theory that childhood vaccines cause autism, as well as promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and COVID vaccines.
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