Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has successfully qualified to be on the ballot in Michigan for the upcoming 2024 presidential election, further complicating the race in the rust belt swing state carried by Donald Trump in 2016 and by Joe Biden in 2020.

This development was confirmed after the Natural Law Party of Michigan nominated Kennedy and his running mate Nicole Shanahan.

Doug Dern, the chair of the Natural Law Party of Michigan, reported that the party nominated Kennedy at its convention on Wednesday, as confirmed by CNN. The Michigan Secretary of State’s office has approved the party’s nomination, ensuring Kennedy's position on the ballot.

Kennedy's entry into the race is significant in Michigan, a state that has shown tight electoral margins in previous elections. President Joe Biden won Michigan in 2020, and former President Donald Trump captured it in 2016, each by less than 1% of the votes.

A recent Wall Street Journal poll indicates Kennedy holds 12% of the vote among Michigan voters, with Trump at 39% and Biden at 37% in a scenario with six candidates. In a direct match-up, Trump leads Biden 48% to 45%.

Kennedy's impact as a third-party candidate is reminiscent of previous elections where minor party candidates had notable vote counts. For example, in the 2016 election, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party collectively garnered over 220,000 votes in Michigan.

Given the close races and Kennedy's potential influence, the Democratic National Committee is actively campaigning against him, linking him to Trump through billboard ads, notably in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These billboards highlight contributions to Kennedy’s super PAC from Timothy Mellon, a Republican megadonor who has also supported Trump-aligned groups.

Michigan's political landscape also includes a significant pro-Palestinian voter base, which has shown discontent with Biden’s policies towards Israel, particularly his response to the military operations in Gaza. This sentiment was strongly expressed during Michigan's Democratic primary last month, where over 100,000 votes were cast for an “uncommitted” ballot line, driven by a grassroots movement led by Arab and Muslim Americans.

These political gestures, along with pro-Palestine activist groups who actively encourage Arab-Americans and Palestine supporters to abstain from the presidential election in protest of American support for Israel. These efforts are widely seen as a detriment to Biden, who relied heavily on Arab-American votes to carry Michigan in 2020.

Moreover, Michigan is the second state where Kennedy has officially secured ballot access, following Utah. His campaign is also on track to appear on the ballot in several other states, including New Hampshire, Hawaii, Nebraska, Idaho, North Carolina, Iowa, and Nevada. The campaign's efforts, however, have faced scrutiny, as the Democratic National Committee has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. The complaint alleges illegal coordination between Kennedy’s campaign and the American Values 2024 super PAC, which has paused its signature collection activities in response.

The Biden campaign has become increasingly concerned about third party candidates and has formed a task force to address the electoral threats posed by such entities as RFK Jr., People's Party candidate Cornel West, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and the centrist No Labels campaign.