RFK Jr. Campaign Fundraising Slumps in May: Filings

Fundraising for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign dropped sharply in May from April, with one donation in the six figures and none reaching the million-dollar level, according to public disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The disclosures showed the two funds associated with Mr. Kennedy’s campaign collected about $2.9 million in May, a drop of $13.9 million from the previous month.

Team Kennedy, his principal campaign committee, brought in $2.6 million in May while American Values 2024, a hybrid PAC allied with the campaign, earned about $281,500, according to the FEC.

At the end of May, Team Kennedy and American Values told the FEC they together spent about $8.2 million in the month. The team closed the period with $25.7 million in cash on hand and about $2.8 million in outstanding debts.

At the end of April, according to federal records, the candidate had access to more than $31 million in cash on hand.

Successes and Setbacks

Since he is running as an independent, the Kennedy campaign’s main priority is getting on the ballot in every state. In May, the campaign said it had all the money needed to finance that mission.

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According to the campaign’s ballot access project, Mr. Kennedy is now on the ballot in Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It has submitted the necessary signatures to appear on Nevada’s ballot as well. Together, those states account for 310 electoral college votes.

However, the Kennedy campaign suffered a setback on June 20 when CNN announced it would not include him in a June 27 presidential debate run by the network. In a statement, the campaign called the exclusion a “clear violation of federal law.”

“My exclusion by Presidents Biden and Trump from the debate is undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly,” Mr. Kennedy said in a June 20 news release.

The campaign filed a complaint with the FEC in May, asking the regulator to stop the Democratic Party and Republican Party from having their prospective nominees, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, participate in the debate.

The campaign promised to continue pursuing legal action “to obtain justice against these illegal acts.”

Major polls published on June 20 by Fox News, the Economist, YouGov, and the New York Post showed Mr. Kennedy garnering 3 to 10 percent support among likely voters.

No Million-Dollar Gifts in May

In the previous months, Mr. Kennedy received significant gifts to finance his campaign. In May, only one donor broke the six-figure mark.

According to FEC records, Robert Bishop, chief investment officer at Impala Asset Management, gave a total of $175,0000 to American Values in May.

Donor records maintained by watchdog organization OpenSecrets indicate Mr. Bishop had donated to the PAC in 2023, giving $200,000 at the time.

According to OpenSecret records, Mr. Bishop has supported various Republican causes. Notably, he sent $350,000 to Never Back Down Inc. in March 2023. Never Back Down supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s run for the Republican nomination.