Administrative Law Judge Ernest Bongiovanni has ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can remain on the ballot in New Jersey as an independent candidate for president, rejecting a challenge based on the state’s Sore Loser Law.
The law prohibits candidates who lose in the primary from running as independents in the general election. However, Bongiovanni found that Kennedy never filed a nominating petition for the Democratic primary, and therefore, the law does not apply.
Kennedy’s attorney, Donald Burke, argued that Kennedy never actually filed to run in the New Jersey presidential primary, and the Sore Loser Law doesn’t apply. The judge agreed, stating that Kennedy made “preliminary plans to run nationally as a Democrat” but never intended to participate in New Jersey’s primaries.
The ruling contradicts a previous decision by Superior Court Judge Benjamin Morgan, who removed an independent candidate from the ballot for similar reasons. Bongiovanni found that case, as well as another in Holmdel, had no persuasive value in this matter.
Scott Salmon, the election lawyer who filed the challenge, argued that Kennedy’s actions, including speeches and fundraising, established him as a primary candidate. However, Bongiovanni disagreed, saying that Kennedy’s conduct did not prove he intended to participate in the New Jersey primary.