LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Independent presidential hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced on Thursday a significant milestone in his campaign as he gained ballot access in the pivotal battleground state of Michigan.

Kennedy, alongside vice-presidential nominee Nicole Shanahan, received the nomination from the Natural Law Party of Michigan, solidifying their presence on the state’s ballot for the upcoming presidential election. Kennedy emerges as the most notable contender for the Natural Law platform since Ralph Nader in 2008.

What is the Natural Law Party?

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The Natural Law Party closed their national headquarters in 2004 but their website shows contacts for the party in 28 of the states, including Michigan. Their priorities and platforms are numerous and include supporting “balanced” immigration and disincentivizing illegal immigration; supporting new environmentally clean energy sources; supporting the sustainability of agriculture and labeling genetically engineered foods; implementing community policing; implementing a balanced budget; supporting affirmative action and lowering taxes.

Founded in 1992 to “bring the light of science into politics,” the founders included a group of educators, businessmen and lawyers who came up with solutions to America’s problems that they felt were being ignored by the government because of the “pervasive influence of special interests.”

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, anti-vaccine activist and son of former U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, dropped his Democratic primary bid in October of last year and decided to run as an independent, saying there is corruption “in the leadership of both political parties.”

Kennedy slides onto the Michigan ballot easily as a party nominee.

By running under a Minor party instead of as an unaffiliated candidate, Kennedy is able to bypass the 12,000 signature collection that was needed in Michigan to get on the ballot. Cheri Hardmon, Senior Press Secretary with the Michigan Dept. of State, confirmed Kennedy’s ballot access to Michigan News Source in an email statement saying, “We can confirm that the Natural Law Party nominated RFK Jr at their convention and filed their documents with the Bureau of Elections, so he will appear on the ballot. He did not submit signatures.”

The five Minor parties who currently qualify to nominate a candidate on Michigan’s presidential ballot according to the Secretary of State’s Office are: the Natural Law Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the U.S. Taxpayers Party and the Working Class Party.

Natural Law Party says that Kennedy is the man for the job.

In a press release from the Kennedy campaign, Natural Law Party Chairman, Doug Dern, expressed his enthusiasm for Kennedy, stating, “He’s the most qualified candidate in the modern-day history of America. We welcome Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Shanahan to the party.”

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Michigan emerges as a crucial battleground state in the 2024 presidential race, with October polling data from Times/Siena indicating Kennedy’s support at 26%, with Biden getting 31% and Trump 34%.

With Kennedy’s popularity growing and Biden’s in jeopardy due to the state’s large group of pro- Palestinian voters, Michigan has witnessed early political skirmishes, notably with the DNC launching attack ads against Kennedy in February, including a series of disparaging billboards.

Kennedy a good fit for Michigan.

However, the Kennedy campaign sees their candidate as an appealing contender in the state. Kennedy 2024 Western Michigan Regional Coordinator, Bill Costantino said in the press release about ballot access in the state, “Kennedy is good for Michigan. As an environmental champion for more than 40 years, Kennedy will work to restore our Great Lakes region, which holds 20% of the world’s freshwater. He will ensure a thriving fishing economy and ecosystem for commercial fishermen and individual anglers.”

With ballot access secured in Utah and the completion of necessary signature collections in New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, and Iowa, the Kennedy campaign has embarked on a comprehensive strategy to ensure the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket’s presence on all 50 states’ ballots and in the District of Columbia.

Kennedy discusses freedom of speech and why Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Trump.

Kennedy was on the Steve Gruber Show on Thursday to talk about the state of his campaign. He told Gruber he’s working to be on the ballot in all 50 states by July, saying he’s got the biggest field organization of any campaign with over 100,000 volunteers. He added that he’s going to have the best ground game of all the candidates after having to get on the ballots one state at a time.

While Kennedy on the Steve Gruber Show, he discussed one of his biggest issues – freedom of speech and censorship. He told Gruber, “What we’re seeing in our country, and really all over the world right now, is the deliberate, purposeful suppression of speech by governments, including our governments.”

He went on to say that he won a recent court case in the federal court of appeals against the Biden organization when they censored him through the FBI, CIA, IRS, NIH and other federal agencies.

It’s because of the government’s censorship that Kennedy has said that President Biden is a bigger threat to Democracy than former President Donald J. Trump. At the beginning of April, he was on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” and said, “I can make the argument that President Biden is the much worse threat to democracy, and the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history – the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech, so to censor his opponent.”

Kennedy will debate Trump or Biden anytime, anywhere.

When asked if he’d debate former President Trump if Biden won’t, Kennedy told Gruber, “Of course I would” adding, “I will debate any of the leading presidential candidates at any time. I look forward to

that. I think I’m going to have the metrics, I already have the metrics to qualify for the three debates that have been scheduled beginning September 18th and I expect to be on the debating stage.”

Back in October when addressing claims from both presidential camps that he would be a “spoiler” against their candidates, Kennedy said, “The truth is, they’re both right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them.”