A group supporting President Biden is disputing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s New York ballot petition, alleging that his campaign falsely claimed his New York residency.
Clear Choice, the group in question, asserts that Kennedy has been living on the West Coast for a significant amount of time and has little connection to the address listed on his petitions, which belongs to a longtime friend. Kennedy’s independent presidential campaign even acknowledges that he has never resided at this address.
The complaint was lodged with the state Board of Elections on Thursday and is one of several challenges filed against Kennedy’s campaign efforts, including objections to his signature-gathering activities. Clear Choice provided a time-stamped copy of the complaint to The New York Times.
Kathleen McGrath, a spokeswoman for the Board of Elections, stated that determining residency falls outside the board’s purview and would be better suited for a judicial process.
Despite McGrath’s comments, challenges to Kennedy’s residency are likely to impede his efforts to gain ballot access in New York and potentially in other states where he is seeking to run. Of particular concern is California, with its 54 electoral votes, which presents a significant electoral prize. Additionally, Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, also claims California as her residence, posing further complications due to a constitutional provision that disqualifies presidential and vice-presidential candidates from receiving electoral votes from their home state.
On May 28, the Kennedy campaign reported submitting over 135,000 signatures to New York elections officials, well above the required 45,000 valid signatures for ballot inclusion.
However, the Board of Elections received 13 objections to Kennedy’s petition, with additional specific complaints following in subsequent days.
Clear Choice’s challenges refer to property records, legal documents, news sources, and public statements that confirm Kennedy’s current residency in California. According to the group, listing a false address on the candidate’s petitions due to his claimed New York residency warrants the rejection of all petitions.
The group’s complaint states, “The objectors have provided and will continue to provide clear and convincing evidence that candidate Kennedy violated New York State law by listing a false residence on his presidential petitions, thus disqualifying him from seeking the office of President of the United States.”
Kennedy has strong ties to New York, with his campaign asserting that he has been a permanent resident of the state since 1968, following his father’s assassination in Los Angeles. He served as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan in 1982 and later worked as an environmental lawyer for Riverkeeper, focusing on Hudson River conservation.
His campaign maintains that his current address in Katonah, N.Y., is indeed his official residence, supported by mail receipt, driver’s license registration, vehicle registration, and voter registration at that address. The campaign also notes that he pays rent for the property.
Property records show that Kennedy owned a property in Westchester County until at least 2012, when he sold a family estate in Bedford. Since then, he has been registered to vote at multiple addresses, including those of family and friends. Reports in May highlighted Kennedy’s claim of New York residency.
In 2023, he changed his address on voting records from one friend’s house to another in Westchester County, settling on Croton Lake Road in Katonah as his most recent address. The property is owned by a woman identified as the wife of Timothy Haydock, a close friend of Kennedy’s, who has been a best man at each other’s weddings.
“Mr. Kennedy’s best friend invited him to move into his Croton Lake Road residence, where Mr. Kennedy had been a frequent guest,” the campaign stated. “Mr. Kennedy officially changed his residence in June 2023.”
While Kennedy and his third wife, Cheryl Hines, purchased property in Malibu in 2014, the campaign asserts that he has always considered New York his permanent residence, despite temporary stays in California and elsewhere.
“He has never claimed residency in any other state,” the campaign emphasized. “He plans to return to New York after his wife concludes her acting career.”
New York election law defines residency as the place where an individual maintains a fixed, permanent, and principal home and to which they always intend to return, regardless of temporary locations.
Kirsten Noyes and Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
