Prominent Democratic election lawyer Scott Salmon has filed a lawsuit claiming that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ineligible for the ballot in New Jersey, citing the state’s “sore loser law.” The law prohibits candidates who sought a party nomination from filing an independent bid.
According to Salmon, Kennedy’s initial bid for the Democratic nomination, including soliciting over $350,000 in donations from New Jersey residents, constitutes a violation of the law. “Courts in New Jersey have repeatedly upheld the Sore Loser Law in recent years to preclude individuals from running as independents even when they did not appear on the primary ballot itself,” Salmon wrote in the suit.
Salmon argued that Kennedy’s early campaign as a Democrat, though unsuccessful, meets the criteria for the “sore loser” provision. “Biden is getting the nomination, not Kennedy, so I would call that pretty unsuccessful… He ‘unsuccessfully sought’ the nomination,” Salmon stated on social media.
Salmon has a track record of successful challenges, having led the effort to remove Ye (formerly Kanye West) from New Jersey’s 2020 presidential ballot and been involved in multiple suits against local candidates for electoral process violations.
Kennedy’s campaign claims to have filed enough signatures to qualify for the New Jersey ballot, but the petition won’t be reviewed until late July. Salmon emphasized that his challenge is not backed by Democratic interests and is self-funded, stating, “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
This legal hurdle adds to Kennedy’s already difficult effort to gain ballot access in all 50 states as an independent candidate.