Kanye West Still In Presidential Race & Officially On Oklahoma Ballot

Kanye West

Kanye West Still In Presidential Race & Officially On Oklahoma Ballot

After multiple reports stated that rapper Kanye West,43, had ended his presidential bid, newly revealed information tells a different story. In fact, Kanye West has taken his official first step in seeking the office of the president. The 43-year-old artist has filed a form with the Federal Election Commission, which declares that Kanye West’s 2020 committee will serve as the “Principal Campaign Committee” with Kanye West as its candidate.” The party will be reportedly listed as BDY, which according to West, stands for Birthday Party.

On Thursday (July 16th), it was reported that he filed a second set of papers with the FEC.

Shortly after his first FEC filing, the Oklahoma Board of Elections announced that he is actually on the ballot for the upcoming election. He submitted a statement of candidacy, via his rep, listing his home state as Wyoming. He also paid the $35,000 filing fee. The Oklahoma Board of Elections posted his statement of candidacy on its website.

This is the first ballot he has appeared on since his announcement to run on July 4th.

It was previously reported that West dropped out of the presidential race. Based on a report by Intelligencer, West and his team attempted to get his name on the ballot in Florida and South Carolina as a third party candidate.

West’s team contacted a political operative to go down to Florida on his behalf to gather the necessary signatures in order for him to appear on the ballot. Before the July 15 deadline, he would have to have 132,781 signatures to be on the ballot.

Intelligencer spoke to Steve Kramer, a specialist who runs a firm that helps potential presidential candidates with their campaigns. He stated that he was hired to help West get on the Florida and South Carolina ballots and to gather signatures. Over the weekend, Kramer and West’s team worked to get the required signatures. Kramer described the support for West’s presidential bid as “overwhelming.”

Still, Kramer later said that West was no longer in the race.

“He’s Out. I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today.”

An hour after Kramer’s conversation with the outlet, West posted a video on his Twitter page of himself voting in Wyoming.

To vote click below https://t.co/LRJ8hC5rGi#2020VISION pic.twitter.com/MJOVGYYYvQ

— ye (@kanyewest) July 9, 2020

Kramer told the outlet that West’s team was upset about no longer having a job as they were excited about his forthcoming campaign run.

“I have nothing good or bad to say about Kanye. Everyone has their personal decision about why they make decisions. Running for president has to be one of the hardest things for someone to actually contemplate at that level. Any candidate running for president for the first time goes through these hiccups.”

The news came as West reportedly polled at 2%. Redfield & Wilton Strategies polled 2,000 registered voters in the U.S. Joe Biden came in first place with 48%, with Donald Trump in second with 40%.  But after West was added to the poll, Donald Trump’s number dipped to 39% while Joe Biden’s percentage remained the same. Here are the results of the poll.

National Poll:
Biden 48% (+8)
Trump 40%
Jorgensen (L) 1%
Hawkins (G) 1%

When @kanyewest included in the poll:
Biden 48% (+9)
Trump 39%
West 2%
Jorgensen (L) 2%
Hawkins (G) 1%@RedfieldWilton (July 9)

— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) July 13, 2020

What do you think of Kanye West continuing his presidential bid? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.