GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. held a fundraiser and voter rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan at St. Ceceila’s Music Center on Saturday where he told his supporters that the country needed a better choice than the “lesser of two evils.”
The event started out with a one-hour ballot access training session. In order to compete in the presidential race, Kennedy has to get ballot access all over the country. That means adhering to all of the different rules of each state and getting enough petition signatures.
Kennedy rally included ballot access training for supporters.
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About 35 Michigan grassroots Kennedy supporters attended the training session which was provided by Kennedy’s national campaign headquarters. In the training, they learned how to properly collect signatures for the petition in Michigan.
Kennedy discussed the effort to secure his place on the ballot in a Substack post, stating, “Normally, independent candidates pay companies millions of dollars to gather signatures. We’re taking a different route that starts with our thousands of volunteers in each state.”
How many signatures are needed for Kennedy to be on the ballot in Michigan?
12,000 signatures are needed by July 18th for Kennedy to get on the ballot in Michigan for the November election although the campaign says they plan to collect about 19,000 as a buffer.
After the training session was over, there was a private fundraising reception for Kennedy. About 50 people had pre-registered for the event and another 10 people walked in and registered on the spot to support Kennedy with a financial contribution.
Tickets were available with a minimum campaign contribution of $250. Supporters got to enjoy a private reception with Kennedy, the opportunity to speak with him one-on-one, get a selfie with the candidate, and have front row seating at the rally.
Grand Rapids rally draws overflow crowd.
When the rally started, it was a full house. In a venue that has seating for 635 people, the room was packed with about 50 people standing along the sides. There was also an overflow room that was set up where they streamed Kennedy’s speech and that room contained an additional 250 people.
The campaign said about 100 to 200 additional people had to be turned away because they didn’t have any more space to accommodate the crowd. It was estimated that there were well over 1,000 people who showed up in total to hear Kennedy speak – making Michigan the largest Kennedy rally so far, said a source connected with the Kennedy campaign.
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Kennedy addressed reporters after the rally and discussed President Biden’s mental capacity. This is a topic that was emphasized in a recent DOJ report on the president’s classified documents case which highlighted instances of Biden forgetting crucial details such as his time as vice president.
Kennedy calls on Biden to debate.
70-year-old Kennedy stated about President Biden, “I think the issue has been raised, and I don’t think it’s character assassination to challenge the president to come out and debate to show the American public that he has the cognitive capacity to do this very, very difficult job.”
Kennedy went on to say, “We have a right as the American people to know that our president is actually leading the country and somebody else is not.”
Kennedy said it is important for voters to see the 81-year-old president unscripted and prove in a debate that he’s capable of handling the job. Kennedy also said that if he was faced with what appears to be happening with Biden concerning memory loss and cognitive abilities, “I would hope my family would say it’s time to enjoy retirement.”
Democratic party tries to link Kennedy with Trump on billboards in Grand Rapids.
While Kennedy was in Grand Rapids, the DNC (Democratic National Committee) had put up four billboards in the area to tie Kennedy to former President Donald Trump with a photo of both of them on billboards that shouted “RFK Junior – Powered by MAGA/Trump.”
According to the Detroit News, the DNC is trying to link Kennedy to conservative mega donor Timothy Mellon who has donated $5 million to Kennedy super PAC “American Values 2024.” Mellon had previously donated to Trump-affiliated groups and Republican congressional candidates including Michigan Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township).
Democratic party trying to keep Kennedy off the ballot in Michigan.
Kennedy said at his rally in Michigan that the DNC is attempting to litigate against him to keep him off the ballot in the state. On Friday, they filed a complaint with the FEC that Kennedy was coordinating with American Values 2024 to gather signatures in Michigan.
Kennedy said about the DNC, “I think they have a candidate who doesn’t want to debate, and so they have to try to win the election by litigating against people, by trying to get people off the ballot. My answer to that is, ‘Why don’t you get a candidate that people believe in?’”
When at the rally, ballot access was a big theme during Kennedy’s speech. Although he said not a fan of Donald Trump, he doesn’t think that Democrats should be trying to bounce the former president off the ballots across the country.
Kennedy doesn’t agree with Democrat plan to ban Trump from election ballots.
Kennedy said, “I don’t think we should remove candidates using the courts. I don’t want to beat Donald Trump that way with half the country angry because they couldn’t vote for a guy that they wanted. I don’t want that resentment and that rancor. I don’t want to win by cheating.”
Kennedy went on to say that the United States shouldn’t become a banana republic and that anybody who wants to run for president should be allowed to run. He told the crowd, “Let voters decide” the American elections, not the parties.
Polling in Michigan has Kennedy higher than Perot back in 1992 race.
At the Grand Rapids rally, Kennedy said that recent polling has him sitting at 27% in Michigan. In the 1992 presidential election between Independent Ross Perot, Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George H.W. Bush, Perot got 19.3% of the popular vote in the state.
Perot and Bush weren’t able to get any electors as they all went to Clinton because Michigan is a winner-take-all state in awarding electoral college votes. There are 15 electoral votes up for grabs in November of 2024 and the winner will need to win 37.5% of the general election votes.
