Major Trump Donor, Running Mate Write Big Checks for RFK Jr.

Independent vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan speaks during a campaign event to announce independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Henry J. Kaiser Event Center in Oakland, Calif., on March 26, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign collected multimillion-dollar checks from both his running mate and a major supporter of former President Donald Trump in April.

On May 17 and May 20, Mr. Kennedy’s principal campaign committee, Team Kennedy, and a hybrid political action committee supporting his run published monthly disclosure statements with the Federal Election Commission.

The reports showed the candidate had access to more than $31 million in cash on hand at the end of April.

Shanahan, Mellon Chip in Again

Nicole Shanahan, Mr. Kennedy’s running mate, sent Team Kennedy $8 million on April 1 as a “candidate for vice president contribution.” The gift followed up on a $2 million contribution Ms. Shanahan sent after Mr. Kennedy announced her as his running mate.

Ms. Shanahan—a lawyer, entrepreneur, and investor—was formerly married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

The gift was the largest single contribution to Team Kennedy in April.

The committee brought in about $10.7 million in April. During the same period, it spent about $6.5 million. It owed about $1.2 million in debts at the end of April, according to the FEC.

The cash infusion, according to a May 16 release from Team Kennedy, gave the campaign all the money it needed to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since Mr. Kennedy is not attached to a political party, ballot access is the campaign’s largest current concern.

American Values 2024, a fund backing Mr. Kennedy’s run, collected its second $5 million check from Timothy Mellon in April. With that donation, Mr. Mellon’s financial support for Mr. Kennedy in 2024 rose to $10 million.

Mr. Mellon, an heir to the Mellon family fortune, is also a major backer of President Trump. In January, he sent $5 million to the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc.

In 2023, Mr. Mellon sent American Values $15 million and MAGA Inc. $10 million.

Mr. Mellon is typically a supporter of the Republican Party. In March, Mr. Mellon sent $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund.

According to watchdog organization OpenSecrets, Mr. Mellon is the third-largest individual donor of the 2024 election cycle. He’s given about $50 million since the beginning of 2023.

Democrats quickly noted the Republican connection. The party interprets the donations as a sign Mr. Kennedy’s independent run only serves as a foil to President Joe Biden’s reelection efforts. However, it remains unknown whether Mr. Kennedy will pull more voters from President Biden’s or President Trump’s tally.

American Values also pulled in a $1 million donation from Tower Research Capital LLC Chairman Mark Gorton. According to donor records maintained by OpenSecrets, Mr. Gorton previously gave $495,000 to American Values, when it was known as People’s Pharma Movement, in 2022.

Mr. Gorton, according to OpenSecrets records, previously was a limited supporter of Democratic Party candidates.

With these significant donations, American Values collected about $6.2 million in April. The PAC spent about $2.9 million. It closed out the month with about $20.9 million in cash on hand.

Ballot Access, Online Ads

With the general election inching closer, Mr. Kennedy is only on the ballot in the seven states of Utah, Michigan, California, Delaware, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Texas. However, the campaign has collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot in the eight additional states of New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, and New Jersey.

The largest bills of the month were paid to Accelevate 2020 LLC. Accelevate, according to its website, is a Dripping Springs, Texas, consultancy specializing in ballot access, petition consulting, and other campaign services.

All told, Team Kennedy paid Accelevate about $1.9 million in April.

Also in April, American Values paid various firms about $258,000 for ballot access services. In addition to Accelevate, Team Kennedy paid about $74,000.

Although Mr. Kennedy filed suit against Meta Platforms Inc. in May, his campaign spent plenty with the company’s social network Facebook in April, totaling about $276,000 for internet advertising.

Additionally, it spent $100,000 with Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

The Kennedy campaign has said it hopes to capitalize on its appeal to younger and nontraditional voters in order to win the White House.