Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Announces Running Mate Selection for White House Bid: Nicol Shanahan Chosen as Partner

On Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that Nicol Shanahan, an entrepreneur and attorney living in California and a longtime acquaintance, will be his running partner for the presidency. 

Kennedy introduced Shanahan at an Oakland event as someone who "will speak for future generations and for the environment." He underlined the need of having someone who understands how technology will either imprison us or bring us back to freedom and wealth and who cares about improving our children's health, safeguarding the environment, repairing our soil, and removing toxins from our food.

With the campaign needing substantial funds, Shanahan, 38, who is also well-known for her public divorce from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, was seen to be a strong candidate for Kennedy. She coordinated a commercial boosting the Kennedy campaign that played during the Super Bowl and contributed $4 million to the Kennedy Super PAC American Values 2024.
Kennedy has only appeared on the ballot once, in the general election in Utah.

The decision was made just one day after they threatened to sue the Nevada Secretary of State's office for refusing to have their name on the ballot. CBS News stated that the signatures they gathered might not be valid because their vice presidential candidate was left out of their petition. 

According to documents obtained from the Nevada office, Kennedy simply signed her name on the candidate's petition without naming a running mate, which is against the regulations and could potentially nullify the signatures received in the state.
Kennedy was given false information by their staff, the Secretary of State's office admitted.

The Kennedy team stated in a statement on Tuesday that they will start gathering signatures in 19 more states this week—where a running mate must be present in order to be on the ballot—after announcing their choice for vice president. 

Among these states are North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, and Kansas. Earlier this month, Kennedy began revealing his choice for vice president. Notable figures like former Minnesotan Jessie Ventura and NFL player Aaron Rodgers were among them. These are a few names Kennedy had thought of:

The 40-year-old New York Jets football player Aaron Rodgers has voiced his concerns over vaccinations and has been connected to Kennedy for this role. Only a few days after testing positive for COVID-19 in 2021, Rodgers revealed he had not had the immunization, which prevented him from playing in the Sunday football match against the Kansas City Chiefs. Earlier this month, Kennedy told The New York Times that Rodgers was a strong candidate for the job. 

Kennedy also included 72-year-old Jessie Ventura, the former governor of Minnesota, as a leading candidate. Although he disagreed with Kennedy's attitude on vaccines, the former wrestler, who emerged victorious in the governor's race as the Reform Party candidate, stated he would think about pursuing this office.

When questioned about Kennedy's communication with her, Tulsi Gabbard, the 42-year-old former Democratic representative from Hawaii, simply responded, "I will let Bobby Kennedy speak for himself." He's a great friend, and I sincerely admire and love him for his work." Nonetheless, she had applauded former President Donald Trump during a speech at CPAC in February. 

Mike Rowe, a 62-year-old former host of the "Dirty Jobs" TV show, said to CNN that he had gotten a call from Kennedy regarding collaborating with him. He claimed that they talked about his charity, mikeroweWORKS, and vocational training. 

"At one point, he asked me if I would ever consider running for public office, and I spat my coffee back into my cup and said, 'Seriously?'