ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge is expected to decide soon whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mistakenly a New Yorker residence as the independent presidential candidate fights to get on the state’s ballot in November.
A Trial without jury in Albany The debate over whether to invalidate Kennedy’s New York nomination petition ended Thursday without Judge Christina Ryba announcing an immediate decision. Any decision by the trial judge is expected to be appealed.
A voter lawsuit backed by a Democratic-aligned PAC alleges that Kennedy’s state nomination filing falsely listed a residence in New York City’s upscale northern suburbs. In fact, he has lived in the Los Angeles area since 2014, when he married “Drop It, Larry!” actress Cheryl Hines.
If Kennedy’s application is declared invalid, the New York Board of Elections would remove him from the 2024 ballot, a spokeswoman for the board said. Exclusion from the New York ballot could also lead to lawsuits in other states where his campaign team has listed the same address.
Kennedy, 70, has testified that his move to California 10 years ago was only temporary and that he plans to return to New York, where he has lived since he was 10. After the trial concluded, he told reporters that the people who signed his petitions deserved a chance to vote for him.
“These Americans want to see me on the ballot. They want to have a choice,” he said.
Kennedy said he was renting a room in a friend’s house in Katonah, about 40 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. However, he said he only slept in the room once because he was constantly traveling on the campaign trail.
In his closing argument, attorney John Quinn said the evidence clearly showed Kennedy’s residence was in Los Angeles and that efforts to declar him a New York resident were “a farce.”
