By Gina Yarbrough
Oakland, CA–Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. welcomed attorney, tech entrepreneur, and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan to the Kennedy campaign as his vice-presidential running mate during a sold-out event in Oakland, California.
Kennedy introduced Shanahan who spoke for nearly 30 minutes sharing her excitement and reasons for joining the ticket following a 10-minute video about her life.
“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.,” the 38-year-old VP pick said. “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 described how he “wanted a VP who will speak for millennials and Gen Z.” He added that Shanahan shares his concerns about protecting the environment, restoring the soils, getting the chemicals out of food, and the future of technology.
“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,” Kennedy said,
The daughter of an immigrant mother from Guangzhou, China, and her late father of Irish and German American descent, Shanahan grew up in the San Francisco Bay area.
As recently as a year ago, Shanahan admitted that she didn’t think much of Kennedy.
“I didn’t think much of him, because I didn’t know much. All I had was the mainstream media narrative. But then a friend pulled me aside one day and said, ‘Nicole, please, do me a favor. Just listen to one interview with Bobby Kennedy. Just one,'” she said.
Shanahan says his commitment to peace and the welfare of hard-working people in America drew her, as a person of compassion, to his candidacy.
“It is his commitment to peace and to the welfare of hard-working people in America that drew me, as a person of compassion, to his candidacy,” Shanahan says.
The Kennedy campaign has launched a 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 Hawaii 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.
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 Presidents Biden and Trump among independents. Independents continue to constitute the largest political bloc 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.
