Red Brick Tavern, located at 14 N. Court St., held a strategy meeting for the campaign of independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the son of former U.S. Senator, Attorney General, and presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. This is the second event Red Brick has in collaboration with Kennedy’s campaign, according to a previous Post report.
Kennedy’s campaign includes environmental policies, transforming the police rather than defunding them, reducing student loan debt and securing the border. Kennedy is also known for his anti-vaccine stances.
Kennedy is the chairperson and a founder of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that supports anti-vaccine disinformation.
Athens County volunteer coordinator for the Kennedy campaign, Mark Harris, kicked off the meeting with two attendees in person and two on Google Meet.
Harris introduced Kennedy’s vice president pick, Nicole Shanahan, and shared a video about her. Shanahan was announced as Kennedy’s running mate Tuesday in Oakland, California, during a campaign event.
A former Democrat, Shanahan is a lawyer from California who leads the Bia-Echo Foundation, which aims to direct money toward women’s reproductive longevity, criminal justice reform and environmental causes.
“In this moment, I am leaving the Democratic party,” Shanahan said during her first speech as vice presidential candidate.
Harris then introduced the main focus of the meeting, which was collecting petition signatures for Kennedy to be on the Ohio general election ballot.
Daniel DeLuca, co-owner of Red Brick Tavern and southeastern Ohio coordinator for the Kennedy campaign, mentioned Ohio only needs 5,000 signatures by August 7 for Kennedy to be on the ballot.
Harris and DeLuca said they are putting their efforts into receiving petition signatures but are honing in on Ohio University students.
“We’re going to try to be visible on the street for the fests particularly early,” Harris said.
After spring break, OU enters Fest Season, when students throw house parties on determined streets with off-campus housing during the majority of the last weekends of the spring semester. Harris and DeLuca are going to be targeting Fests for student signatures.
“Part of the Kennedy strategy is targeting students,” Harris said.
Harris and DeLuca ended the meeting after a Q&A.
“I'm excited about the Kennedy campaign, as someone who's been working in the independent space for a while now, I’m really encouraged with how well he's doing,” Harris said. “Quite frankly, I can't see myself voting for the other two options, so I'm happy to work for him.”
