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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not be on Pennsylvania’s ballot in November

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an independent candidate for president, suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump last week.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pauses during his speech after announcing he's running for president as an independent Oct. 9, 2023, speaking in front of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall. He is ending his bid for the Democratic nomination and will launch an independent party run for the presidency in 2024.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pauses during his speech after announcing he's running for president as an independent Oct. 9, 2023, speaking in front of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall. He is ending his bid for the Democratic nomination and will launch an independent party run for the presidency in 2024.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not be on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot in November, a Commonwealth Court judge ruled last week.

The independent candidate for president announced Friday in Phoenix that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump in his race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kennedy, a longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, said Friday he would remove his name from the ballot in 10 battleground states but encouraged voters to support him in other states. His attorneys filed paperwork in Pennsylvania before Kennedy took the stage Friday asking that he be pulled from the ballot.

Commonwealth Court Judge Lori Dumas granted Kennedy’s request Friday afternoon.

Both Republicans and Democrats had worried Kennedy would act as a spoiler, pulling so many votes from Trump or Harris that he handed the election to the other — especially in critical swing states like Pennsylvania.

Kennedy, the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, said Friday he believed they were right.

“By staying on the ballot in battleground states, I would have likely handed the election over to the Democrats,” Kennedy said.