(NewsReady.com) – There’s been a lot of speculation about who independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also known as RFK Jr., was going to choose as his vice president. Some thought he might pick Aaron Rogers, the New York Jets quarterback, while others thought he might pick former governor and retired professional wrestler Jesse Ventura. He has finally announced his running mate.
On March 26, RFK Jr. announced Nicole Shanahan would be his vice presidential pick in the general election. The tech millionaire is a well-known Democratic donor who has been giving money to the party for more than a decade. During a press conference in Shanahan’s hometown of Oakland, California, the independent candidate described his veep candidate as a “fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom.”
Shanahan has never held political office before. She’s the founder and president of the Bia-Echo Foundation, which focuses on women’s reproductive rights, environmental policy, and criminal justice reform. She helped fund RFK Jr.’s Super Bowl ad in February, telling The New York Times that she donated $4 million to the super PAC that bought the ad. She explained that she started supporting his candidacy because of his environmental policies and position on vaccines. He’s well-known for his activism against vaccinations and has spread misinformation about them in the past.
RFK Jr. is only officially on one state ballot in Utah. However, at least 23 other states are allowing him to collect the signatures necessary to appear on theirs as well. The arduous process of getting on the ballot is very expensive, and Shanahan’s war chest and connections could help.
The duo is facing an uphill battle in November. According to the polls listed on FiveThirtyEight, YouGov found that RFK Jr. is only polling at about 3%. A Beacon Research poll showed him at 12%, and Quinnipiac University has him at 13%. They have a long way to go if they hope to pull off a third-party win this fall.
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