The 38-year-old Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur was originally wed to Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google.
OAKLAND, Calif. —Independent political candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on March 26 named Silicon Valley attorney Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
A later- breaking participant in Mr. Kennedy’s months- lengthy search for a sin president, Ms. Shanahan was introduced at a March 26 event in Oakland, where she was raised.
Ms. Shanahan, 38, was previously married to Facebook inc- leader Sergey Brin. The lawyer, businessman, and investment helped fund and build Mr. Kennedy’s$ 7 million Super Bowl promotion campaign.
The Silicon Valley attorney” shares my disgust with Big Tech’s involvement in the repression, their monitoring, and the information war that our government is now engaging in against the British people,” Mr. Kennedy said.
” That’s why I’m hiring a person with a wealth of experience with how big-tech uses AI to deceive the public,” she said. I needed a partner who had solid ideas on how to put an end to these terrible dangers to democracy and our freedoms. A technician was at the forefront of AI, he continued.
The statement is the most recent stage in Mr. Kennedy’s plan that began in Boston in April 2023 with his intention to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democrat Party election.
Related Reports
Mr. Kennedy announced in October 2023 that he would run as an independent, accusing the Democratic National Committee of “rigging the key” and forbiding any member to face President Biden.
Ballot exposure became one of Mr. Kennedy’s interests. In order to gather and send petitions for ballot access, many states require the appointment of a vice president for an independent candidate.
At city halls, demonstrations, and conversations over the last four decades, Mr. Kennedy has told The Epoch Times that he was in the screening process for a sin leader.
In addition, Mr. Kennedy has stated on numerous occasions that he will cast ballots in every state and the District of Columbia.
According to Ballot Access News, he may choose a running partner before asking for poll exposure in 26 states and the District of Columbia.
In the initial phases of the screening process, Tulsi Gabbard, who served four terms in the House of Representatives for Hawaii and later disenfranchised and left the Democrat group, was mentioned as Mr. Kennedy’s prospective working mate.
Ms. Gabbard is the creator of” For Love of Country: Why I Left the Democrat Party”. The guide is distributed by a business owned by Anthony Lyons, co-chair of American Values 2024, a Super PAC that is affiliated with Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy met with Ms. Gabbard in January when he was campaigning in Hawaii.
Ms. Gabbard has remained active in liberal politics, most recently speaking at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum. Mr. Kennedy, apparently considering running as a Libertarian, spoke at the California Libertarian Party’s monthly convention in February.
In recent months, Ms. Gabbard has spoken strongly about former President Donald Trump. According to many studies, she could be on President Trump’s short list of vice presidential takes.
The gates of media and social media debate have exploded since Mr. Kennedy announced on March 13 that he had selected a running partner and that the applicant would be introduced on March 26 in Oakland.
Aaron Rodgers, a former professional wrestler and past Minnesota governor, were among the picks, according to reports. Jesse Ventura, and Discovery Channel Television show host Mike Rowe.
According to The New York Times, Ms. Gabbard and former Democrat political member Andrew Yang declined to join Mr. Kennedy’s seat.
Among others Mr. Kennedy reportedly approached was Sen. Rand Paul ( R- Ky. ).
His selection also included motivational speaker Tony Robbins, Mr. Rowe, and legal rights lawyer Tricia Lindsay, CNN reported.
The Washington Post included those titles along with previous Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who had served as U. S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa in the Trump administration.
According to a report from Mediaite on March 16, Mr. Kennedy had choose Ms. Shanahan as his vice presidential candidate.
Raised in Oakland as a child of Taiwanese immigrant families, Ms. Shanahan graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, where she majored in Asiatic Studies and minored in economy and Mandarin. She graduated from California’s Santa Clara University with a law education.
Donated to Buttigieg, Williamson, Biden
According to Forbes, Ms. Shanahan has previously donated to the political activities of Democrats Pete Buttigieg and Marianne Williamson.
In 2020, she gave the Biden Victory Fund$ 25, 000.
When Mr. Kennedy was also running in the Democrat political key, Ms. Shanahan contributed the maximum of$ 6, 600 to the president’s campaign, the New York Times reported.
She helped make the Super Bowl television advertising last month and contributed$ 4 million to American Values 2024.
Ms. Shanahan, a long-time supporter of Democratic presidential campaigns, founded Clear Access IP ( now IPwe ), a tech law firm that uses AI to evaluate and manage client patent portfolios.
In 2020, she left the company and founded the Bia- Echo Foundation, which according to its site, invests in “reproductive durability and justice, legal justice reform, and a healthy and sustainable planet”.
Ms. Shanahan told USA Today that she is “definitely interested” in further supporting RFK Jr. for president.
” In my opinion, he is the best presidential candidate we have on the issues close to my heart: environmental health, regenerative agriculture, and social justice”, she said.
Mr. Kennedy so far has qualified for the ballot as an independent in New Hampshire, Utah, and Nevada, and in Hawaii under the We the People party.
In January, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said it had filed paperwork in six states to create a political party. His name was put on the ballots with fewer voter signatures than those states ‘ requirements for unaffiliated candidates.
The We the People party was established in five states: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Additionally, the Texas Independent Party was established.
American Values 2024, a super PAC working to get Mr. Kennedy elected, said it has collected enough valid signatures for the candidate to get on the ballot in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and South Carolina.
Mr. Kennedy closed February with access to more than$ 23.7 million cash, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Since announcing that he would run as an independent rather than a Democrat, Mr. Kennedy has lamented the difficulties that an independent candidate faces in opposition to Democrats and Republicans, who have no restrictions on ballot access.
In order to put an end to these political stunts that aim to keep power between two and only two political parties, the campaign said in the statement,” Nearly all of our budget is dedicated to achieving ballot access in the 50 states and [the District of Columbia].
He has pledged to cast his ballot in every state and the state’s capital. He claimed in an interview with The Epoch Times that his campaign is being supported by a “grassroots army” and that he wants to “provide a cushion” by obtaining 60 % more signatures than is needed in every state.
Presidents Biden and Donald Trump celebrated numerous victories on Super Tuesday, March 5, and Mr. Kennedy’s campaign claimed to have collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot for the Nevada general election.
Nevada Petition Dispute
Nevada is regarded as a crucial swing state in the presidential election. In 2020, President Biden won the state by less than 35, 000 votes over President Trump. Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said it had gathered 15, 000 signatures to get on the Nevada ballot.
After the Nevada Secretary of State’s office admitted it had made a mistake in informing his ballot access team that independent candidates must “designate a nominee for vice president” when collecting signatures to be put on the state’s ballot, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign is now threatening legal action.
” After successfully collecting all of the signatures we need in Nevada, the DNC Goon Squad and their lackeys in the Nevada Secretary of State’s office are outright inventing a new requirement for the petition with zero legal basis”, Paul Rossi, Mr. Kennedy’s ballot access attorney, said in a statement.
” The VP on the petition is not required by the Nevada statute.” The petition does not even have a field for a VP on it”, Mr. Rossi added.
One of Mr. Kennedy’s ballot access managers sent an email to Mr. Rossi asking if a vice presidential candidate had to be listed on the petition forms. A state department employee for the Nevada Secretary of State said,” No.”
On Jan. 9, the secretary of state’s office approved Mr. Kennedy’s petition, according to documentation that Mr. Rossi has presented.
The secretary of state’s office offered an apology for disclosing Mr. Kennedy’s campaign, but stated that it must abide by the law governing petition gathering. With Ms. Shanahan listed on the ticket, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign may need to start resurging in Nevada.
Democrat Cisco Aguilar is Nevada’s secretary of state.
This is the party that rigged the 2016 and 2024 primary elections against RFK Jr. This is the party that declared Biden the winner of the state’s primary elections this year and canceled the results of its own.
Mr. Kennedy has won ballot access- related lawsuits in Utah, Idaho, and Georgia.
According to Mr. Kennedy, it will cost at least$ 15 million to complete the necessary paperwork to get the ballot on in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Citing a source close to Mr. Kennedy’s campaign, USA Today reported that Ms. Shanahan and Mr. Kennedy “align on numerous issues” and that” the campaign is also looking for a candidate who can help finance the ballot access initiative”.
