RFK Jr. set to announce VP pick later this month

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to announce his running mate at an event later this month, his campaign announced Wednesday.

The announcement will take place in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. PDT. Kennedy is making event tickets available for a campaign contribution of $24, while children may attend free of charge.

For $500, attendees can attend an “exclusive post-announcement reception” and obtain “commemorative merch” from the event.

“This historic event will reaffirm 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,” his campaign said in a press release.

The event comes as rumors about Kennedy’s selection for his presidential running mate have swirled in recent days.

On Tuesday, the Kennedy campaign confirmed to The Hill that at the top of his list for vice president are New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former professional wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.

Kennedy has approached both men about running on his ticket, and both “have welcomed the overtures,” according The New York Times, which first broke the news Tuesday.

Kennedy said he had been speaking to Rodgers, a fellow vaccine skeptic, “pretty continuously” for the past month and that he has been in touch with Ventura since meeting him at a campaign event last month, the Times reported.

Kennedy is still considering other candidates on his “shortlist,” his campaign confirmed to The Hill. Other possible selections include former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-Hawaii), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

Kennedy, who initially launched his bid for the Democratic presidential ticket, is now seeking ballot access across the country as an independent candidate. Kennedy has said he no longer is aligned with Democrats ideologically but does not fit neatly with Republicans either.

He has already gathered enough signatures to make the ballot in New Hampshire, Utah, Hawaii, and Nevada — a consequential swing state. His super PAC also says it has enough support to appear on ballots in Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina. 

Kennedy’s third-party bid has the potential to take voters from both President Biden and former President Trump — both of whom on Tuesday passed the threshold needed to secure enough delegates to win their parties’ nominations — but Democrats have been particularly concerned about Kennedy’s bid.

According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average of three-way match-ups, Trump leads with 41.4 percent support, Biden follows with 38.7 percent, and Kennedy trails with 11.1 percent.

Trump’s lead over Biden narrows in a two-way race, with Trump leading Biden by 1.6 points, 45.9 percent support to 44.33 percent.