Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign was dealt a blow Monday when a judge ruled that his petition to appear on New York’s ballot was invalid, saying Kennedy had used a “sham” address to maintain his New York residency.

Judge Decision Could Endanger His Efforts in Other States

The ruling, if it stands, would keep Kennedy off the ballot in a state where he lived for much of his adult life and could endanger his efforts to be placed on the ballot in dozens of other states. He has three days to appeal the decision, handed down by a judge in Albany, New York.

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A group of New York residents — backed by Clear Choice, a Democrat-aligned political action committee — had challenged Kennedy’s New York residency, arguing that his campaign had used a false address on the tens of thousands of nominating petitions it circulated and submitted to place him on the ballot.

His lawyer, William F. Savino, said in an email that Kennedy had “always planned to appeal any adverse ruling.” Later Monday, the campaign said it would file a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan.

Kennedy Could Face Other Challenges

The decision, by Justice Christina L. Ryba, a state Supreme Court judge, could open Kennedy up to other challenges in states where Kennedy is on the ballot, because his campaign used the same address to gather signatures in those states.

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New York residency is especially important to Kennedy because his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, lists California as her home. Under a constitutional quirk, presidential and vice-presidential candidates who hail from the same state are ineligible to receive its electoral votes, and California, with its 54 electoral votes, is the biggest prize in the presidential election.

Kennedy, 70, an environmental lawyer, spends most of his time at a home in Los Angeles that he shares with his wife, actress Cheryl Hines. But the petitions circulated this year in New York listed an address for him in Katonah, a hamlet about 45 miles north of New York City.

During a four-day hearing, the lawyers for the four voters who brought the suit called Barbara Moss, who owns the house in Katonah. She said Kennedy stayed in a spare bedroom.

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The bedroom was referred to in the judge’s ruling Monday: “The court finds Kennedy’s testimony that he may return to that bedroom to reside with his wife, family members, multiple pets and all of his personal belongings to be highly improbable, if not preposterous.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Jesse McKinley and Jay Root
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