DENVER (KDVR) – Kanye West will be on the Colorado ballot for president this fall, after the Secretary of State’s Office certified his paperwork.
The hip-hop artist announced his plans to run earlier this summer and held several campaign events, but also had mixed signals about pulling out of the race.
West’s candidacy is not affiliated with any party, according to the filing obtained by FOX31. His vice presidential running mate is Michelle Tidball.
According to Forbes, Tidball is a self-described “biblical life coach” who has said in the past that she does not watch the news.
“It’s not totally clear what his angle is,” said Seth Masket, a professor of political science and director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver.
West is on the ballot in a few other states and is trying to get on the ballot in more, but it’s too late to get the 270 electoral votes needed to win the race.
“It suggests that there are at least some delegates within the Republican party, some activists there, who are hoping to add him as a spoiler,” Masket said. “That is…to pull some votes away from Joe Biden and maybe make a few swing states more competitive.”
Some Democrats deride this as dirty tricks.
The Colorado GOP said it’s not behind West’s campaign and a spokesperson said, “We are confident that the president will be re-elected in November.”
But a longtime Colorado Republican strategist who runs RBG Communications is helping West. Rachel George helped sign-up the nine presidential electors who are needed to qualify as an independent.
George did not respond to a request to talk about West and the campaign, but one of the electors did.
Adam Johnson told FOX31 in a statement, “I believe that more choices are better for Coloradans. Kanye West is talking about important issues that matter to me. Namely, he’s working to elevate our national discussion about what an individual can achieve with mental health issues. As someone who struggles with that myself, I appreciate how he’s addressing the topic. In the current hyper-partisan nightmare we are in, having options should be celebrated.”
West’s campaign did not respond to multiple messages asking if he was running as a spoiler to Biden. But West texted Forbes Magazine this response to that question, “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”