Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that patent attorney, philanthropist and megadonor Nicole Shanahan would join his independent presidential ticket as his running mate.
The announcement means Kennedy will have more access as he pursues his independent bid for the White House in several states that require a vice-presidential running mate to qualify for their ballots.
Kennedy’s allies say the selection of Shanahan will generate buzz for the campaign heading into the general election, while also allowing him to check a necessary box
Kennedy, 70, announced his pick in her California hometown, miles from the hub of the technology industry. Shanahan, 38, has grown to prominence as a Bay Area lawyer with deep Silicon Valley ties and was previously married to billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
“I need someone with a spiritual dimension and compassion and idealism and, above all, a deep love for the United States of America,” Kennedy said. “I found all of those qualities in a woman who grew up right here in Oakland, daughter of immigrants who overcame every daunting obstacle and went on to achieve the highest ideals of the American Dream.”
Democrats have disrespected Kennedy during most of the 2024 presidential cycle, speculating that he has no shot of winning the battle for the White House.
In April 2023, he launched a campaign seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for the United States presidential election of 2024 but in October announced instead that he would run as an independent, after encountering obstacles to a fair primary contest.
Biden’s cheating has also been decried by Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson and Cenk Uygur, who each made accusations that Democrats cheated to get Joe Biden re-elected.
While Biden’s polling is perilous for an incumbent, many in his orbit have avoided going after Kennedy to focus on disgraced former President Donald Trump but gloves came off as the incumbent still lacks a compelling affirmative message.
“I am personally offended and just disgusted by his campaign,” said Rep. Robert Garcia during a call hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “He should be ashamed of himself. He should stop running for president.”
From 2013 to last year, campaign finance records show Shanahan, who has remained relatively unknown in politics, supported Democrats. She made a $25,000 donation in 2020 in support of Joe Biden.
She has contributed up to the maximum limit to his campaign and donated millions to a Kennedy super PAC, including $4 million toward a commercial it ran for him during the Super Bowl.
“There is only one moment in time and one candidate that I would step into this capacity for. That time is now and that candidate is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,” said the 38-year-old vice-presidential contender.
“I believe, very strongly, that focusing on the health and well-being of our youth is the key to a strong America. That means honestly looking at the root causes of where childhood development is being sidelined. We have the tools to prioritize American wellness, we just need to use them.”
Kennedy introduced his running mate enthusiastically, describing how he “wanted a VP who will speak for millennials and Gen Z. Someone who cares about healing our children, protecting our environment, restoring our soils, and getting the chemicals out of our food, and who understands how technology will either enslave us or give us a path back to freedom and prosperity.”
“From our first meeting,” Kennedy said, “Nicole’s intellectual capacity left me awestruck. I knew right then I wanted her as my vice president and I knew America was going to fall in love with her.”
Shanahan’s work on behalf of honest governance, racial equality, regenerative agriculture, and children’s and maternal health has put her at the forefront of many of the country’s most urgent needs.
Today’s event reaffirms the key principles of the Kennedy campaign of restoring the middle class, ending the chronic disease epidemic, unwinding the war machine, and unraveling corporate capture of our government agencies.
The Kennedy campaign has launched a robust ballot access plan to ensure the Kennedy/Shanahan ticket is on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Kennedy is already on the ballot in Utah and has collected all the necessary signatures to be on the ballot in New Hampshire and Nevada.
In Hawaii, the state Office of Elections has confirmed Kennedy supporters have collected the required signatures to establish the “We The People” party in Hawaii.
In addition to those states, the campaign is already actively collecting signatures in 17 states and is kicking off its petition gathering this week in 19 additional states that are open and require a vice presidential candidate, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Kennedy’s surging support across the country has made the election a three-way race. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows him leading Presidents Biden and Trump nationwide among voters under 35. An NBC poll shows 34% of people saying they could see themselves supporting RFK Jr. Another Quinnipiac Poll discussed on CNN shows Kennedy in a three-way tie with Presidents Biden and Trump among Latinos.
Kennedy leads Biden and Trump among independents, who constitute a political bloc bigger than either party in the U.S., with an average of 43% of U.S. adults. In contrast, 27% of U.S. adults identify as Republicans and 27% of U.S. adults identify as Democrats.
Three months ago, Kennedy returned to Philadelphia, the birthplace of the United States, and declared his independence from the “bankrupt two-party system.” He did so with the National Constitution Center behind him and the words “We the People” etched into the building by his side.
“We the people” are the first three words of the U.S. Constitution. These words symbolize that our government draws its power from the people that it was created to serve.
On Oct. 9, Kennedy said, “Like the Founding Fathers declared their independence from the crown more than two centuries ago, today we declare our independence from the corrupting influence of Wall Street and corporate donors that have rigged our economy for the few at the expense of the many.”