Democratic group targets NC supporters of RFK Jr. and Cornel West in text campaign

North Carolina voters who signed petitions to help get third-party presidential candidates on the ballot received text messages questioning their decision from a group with ties to the Democratic Party.

Supporters of new parties backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and Cornel West’s independent presidential campaigns worry that these texts, which also ask voters to fill out a survey, could be part of an effort to deny the parties’ bids for recognition.

“I’m pretty sure everything that they’re doing here is to get us kicked off the ballot,” Italo Medelius, North Carolina co-chair of West’s Justice for All party, said.

The founder of the group sending the texts, Clear Choice Action, told The News & Observer that “substantial concerns” had been raised about the parties’ signature collection processes, prompting them to reach out to people who signed the petitions.

What texts did voters receive?

The texts, sent to supporters of the Justice for All and Kennedy’s We the People parties, ask voters to fill out a survey about their choice to sign the petition.

“While participation in elections is important, the ‘Justice for All’ party has no platform or issue stances,” the text, shared with The N&O, says. “Their primary stated purpose for establishing the party is to get Dr. Cornel West on the presidential election ballot in November.”

The survey then asks recipients if they remember signing the petition and if they thought it was specifically to put a candidate on the ballot or it was to create a new party.

Democrats targeted Green Party effort in 2022

Democratic groups have targeted third-party campaigns in North Carolina before, encouraging people who signed the Green Party’s petitions for ballot access in 2022 to remove their signatures. They told the signatories that having the progressive party on the ballot would help Republicans in the midterms.

Matthew Hoh, who ran as the Green Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022, received two texts from Clear Choice Action last month about his support of West’s and Kennedy’s petition campaigns.

“I’m annoyed, but I’m not surprised,” he said. “... The Democratic Party is going to be really focusing and putting a lot of effort into trying to keep third party and independent candidates off the ballot.”

West and Kennedy are both seeking to have new political parties recognized in North Carolina so they can get on the state’s ballot as third-party presidential candidates.

Neither party has been certified by the State Board of Elections, though each appears to have enough valid petition signatures to meet the state’s requirements for forming a new party, according to the board’s online petition search.

The board is expected to consider both parties’ petitions later this month.

In a statement to The N&O on behalf of the group, Pete Kavanaugh, the founder of Clear Choice Action, suggested voters who signed the party’s petitions were misled.

“The Clear Choice Action team is asking individuals whom the County Boards of Elections has identified as signers if they recall signing the petition and were informed about its specific purpose,” he said. “A significant number of people have said they did not and would like the opportunity to sign a signature withdrawal form to voice their concern to the State Board of Elections.”

The group has currently received over 100 responses from voters who say they were not informed about the petition’s purpose, said Harrell Kirstein, a consultant for Clear Choice Action.

Medelius said the Justice for All party can provide evidence showing that its petitioning process fulfilled the state’s requirements.

“We are very, very confident that we did everything by the book,” he said.

The state board and county boards of elections received public records requests from Clear Choice Action, said Pat Gannon, a spokesperson for the state board. Signatures gathered in petition processes are public records.

Who is sending these messages?

The text messages identify Clear Choice Action as “a group that is working to ensure that new political parties in North Carolina are held to the highest standards of accountability.”

Earlier this year, supporters of President Joe Biden created the Clear Choice PAC with the goal of opposing third-party presidential candidates, The Washington Post reported.

Clear Choice Action, however, is a separate entity. While the PAC is registered with the Federal Election Commission, Clear Choice Action, Inc. is registered as a business entity in Delaware and was incorporated in late February.

A website for the group includes only one sentence: “Clear Choice Action is dedicated to educating the public and protecting the constitutional rights of citizens, as well as upholding democratic institutions.”

There are no other pages, links or menus on the site — nor does it state who works for the group.

Kavanaugh is a former Biden aide, The Washington Post reported. Jessica Post, the former president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which aims to elect Democrats in state level races, is referred to as a director of Clear Choice Action on her biography page on the website for the public affairs group she currently works for.

Asked if it was involved with Clear Choice, the DLCC did not provide a comment.

Post stopped working for the DLCC in January, according to her LinkedIn profile.

NC elections board recognized Green Party

In the summer of 2022, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee contacted voters who signed the Green Party’s petitions for ballot access and urged them to remove their signatures.

The Elias Group, a powerful law firm with ties to Democratic politicians, submitted complaints to the State Board of Elections about the Green Party, alleging that there was fraud in its petition campaign.

The State Board initially voted against certifying the party, citing concerns of fraud. The Green Party sued the board in federal court and the state Democratic Party and the DSCC intervened in the case as defendants.

The board later reversed its decision, officially recognizing the Green Party.

In April, the judge in the federal case ordered the North Carolina Democratic Party to pay partial legal fees to the Green Party, saying that the Democrats’ efforts to intervene were “frivolous” and “without foundation.”