Kanye West files to run for president on Kentucky ballot

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Rapper and music producer Kanye West has filed to run for U.S. president on Kentucky’s ballot this fall.

A tweet from Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams showed a photo of part of West’s application.

“Our staff are diligently reviewing this filing, including an estimated 19,000 petition signatures, to determine whether Mr. West has qualified to appear,” Adams said in another tweet.

West has qualified to appear on the ballot in states including Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee and Utah. He didn’t qualify in Ohio, Montana, West Virginia, Wisconsin and other states, though he has filed lawsuits challenging some of those decisions.

On Thursday, a judge barred West from appearing on Arizona’s ballot, saying a voter who challenged West’s candidacy had shown he would probably prevail in the legal dispute. West’s lawyers said they would appeal.

West, who once backed Republican President Donald Trump, announced earlier that he had broken with Trump and would launch his own presidential bid. His campaign filed paperwork on July 15 with the Federal Election Commission.

In other states, Republican operatives and vocal supporters of Trump have worked to boost West’s candidacy and secure his spot on the ballot. Critics contend West’s last-minute run — and the apparent GOP support it’s received — is a ploy to swipe votes from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, especially in key swing states. Representatives for West have brushed aside that criticism.

Trump carried Kentucky in the 2016 election by nearly 30 percentage points.

The Associated Press