RFK Jr. in Voter Pamphlet … but not Trump?

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Our office is getting phone calls on the State Voter Pamphlet regarding Trump and RFK Jr.  It appears that the State Elections is getting so many calls that they had to shut off their phones.

The Official Oregon Voters Pamphlet (where candidates make statements) has been mailed and people are asking why they see a voter statement for Independent candidate RFK Jr. (who ceased his campaign) and no voter statement for presidential candidate Donald Trump.  Candidate Trump is indeed on the Oregon ballot but not in the Oregon Voter Guide which showcases candidate statements and ballot measure arguments.

For starters, the Donald Trump campaign has decided not to submit a Voter Statement in Oregon.  They made the same decision in the May Primary where Trump did not provide a candidate statement but was on the actual ballot which is where you vote.   It will be the same for the General Election where people will see Trump on the ballot to vote fore, but they will not see his explanation from his campaign in the Voter Pamphlet.

As for RFK JR., he is on both the ballot and the Oregon Voter Pamphlet.  To make things more confusing RFJ Jr. is on some state ballots and not others.  See chart below:

CBS noted the strategy and politics to the decision,

“Seeing no path to victory, Kennedy endorsed former President Donald Trump in a speech in Phoenix on Aug. 23. But he said his name would remain on the ballot in non-battleground states and encouraged voters there to still vote for him.In battleground states, “where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name, and I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me,” he said. He added that the campaign’s polling consistently showed that he would “likely hand the election over to the Democrats” if he was on the ballot in battleground states. Kennedy later said his supporters in all states should vote for Trump and he has requested that states other than those that are closely contested remove his name from the ballot…Kennedy is currently on the ballot in two contested states — Michigan and Wisconsin. Wisconsin rejected Kennedy’s request to withdraw — state law requires that candidates remain on the ballot unless they die.”

Another reason RFK Jr. also may not be on some state ballots is the fact that he may have missed the deadline for filing.   RFK Jr. started as a Democrat candidate and then switched to Independent.