A judge ruled on Aug. 12 that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claimed New York residency on his nominating petitions, a decision that will invalidate his efforts to appear on the state’s general election ballot.
In her 34-page ruling, New York State Supreme Court Justice Christina Ryba wrote that evidence in the trial held last week showed Kennedy had a “long-standing pattern” of using addresses from friends and relatives so he could keep his voter registration in New York while living with his wife in California.
“Using a friend’s address for political and voting purposes, while barely stepping foot on the premises, does not equate to residency under the Election Law,” Ryba wrote.
Kennedy, who is attempting to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, criticized the decision, saying in a statement that “the Democrats are showing contempt for democracy.”
“They aren’t confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win,” Kennedy said.
The Democrat-turned-independent testified that he moved to California in 2014 so he could be with his wife, actress Cheryl Hines. The couple has always planned to return to New York, Kennedy said.
Kennedy rents a room from Barbara Moss in Katonah, New York, Kennedy testified. Moss told the court that the candidate, who is a friend of her husband, pays her $500 a month. There is no written lease, she said, and Kennedy made a lump sum payment of $6,000 after the New York Post published a story questioning Kennedy’s residency.
Ryba wrote that Kennedy’s claim of residency at the Katonah address was “immaterial” without proof of a physical presence there.
If Ryba’s ruling is upheld, Kennedy will not appear on the New York ballot, and the decision could lead to challenges in other states where he used a New York address to collect signatures to support his bids to appear on state ballots as a presidential candidate.
Last weekend, Kennedy reported that he had gathered enough signatures to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The New York lawsuit was filed by four voters and backed by Clear Choice Action, a political action committee led by supporters of President Joe Biden.
The legal action contends that Kennedy’s nominating petition says he lives in New York but he has resided in Los Angeles since 2014 after marrying Hines.
In a statement after Ryba’s ruling, a Clear Choice Action spokesperson said that Kennedy lied and is “being held accountable.”
Paul Rossi, who is senior counsel for the Kennedy campaign, criticized Ryba for not adhering to the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which “governs the residency of presidential and vice presidential candidates, not state law.”
“If state court judges are going to ignore the Constitution, the federal courts must step in to protect voters’ rights,” Rossi said in a statement.
Kennedy’s campaign reported that on May 28, the candidate submitted more than 145,000 supporters’ signatures, which is thought to be more than any presidential candidate in New York history.
In April 2023, Kennedy announced his candidacy to challenge Biden for the 2024 Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
After encountering multiple roadblocks from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and claiming that the organization was “rigging the primary” to favor Biden and prevent other candidates from competing, Kennedy chose to run as an independent in October 2023.
Earlier this year, the DNC announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates. It hired a veteran Democrat strategist to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
New York voters “signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot,” Kennedy said.
“Those Americans want to see me on the ballot. They want to have a choice.”
