WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a long-running bid by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is ending his independent presidential campaign, to remove his name from the ballot in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Kennedy has endorsed Trump and is trying to get his name off the ballot in states where he might support his new ally.
The court did not disclose its reasoning. Judge Neil Gorsuch said he would grant Kennedy’s petition in the Michigan case.
Both states were already on the ballot, so it never seemed likely that the Supreme Court would grant Kennedy’s demands.
More than 850,000 ballots were returned in Wisconsin, and more than 1.5 million were returned in Michigan. More than 250,000 people voted in person in Michigan.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court and Michigan Supreme Court ruled against Kennedy last month. Wisconsin law says that candidates on the ballot can only be withdrawn after death.
A Michigan court ruled that Kennedy left the race too late to make a change, saying he was first nominated as the Natural Rights Party candidate in April.
“Plaintiff fails to explain how to open the call without substantially harming the right to vote and the public’s fair and efficient administration of elections,” a federal judge in Michigan wrote in denying Kennedy’s subsequent request for a restraining order.
Kennedy did not try to remove himself from the ballot in all states. In fact, in New York, he tried to get his name on the ballot, much to the dismay of the Democrats. The Supreme Court refused in September.
Kennedy’s aide was fired this year after an incident video appeared he said the top priority of the campaign was to prevent then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden from winning the election in potentially winnable states like New York. The campaign denied it was part of its strategy.