Despite a history of mental health issues and manic behavior, rapper Kanye West has managed to get on the presidential ballot in 12 states. But it has come at a steep cost – Let the Voters Decide, a third-party petitioning group, has been paid over $3.5 million to gather signatures over 15 states to help West get a spot on the 2020 election ballot.
One of his largest investments was in Arizona – West spent $1 million for just over 90,000 signatures. His efforts were interrupted, though, by a judge who barred him from the ballot. Ohio and Virginia were also large investment states, too, but he still failed to achieve a place on either state’s ballot.
West’s efforts have been successful in 12 states so far. He continues to hemorrhage money on his campaign, with his first spending report with the FEC earlier this month reaching about $6 million. His candidacy has been questioned by many. The view among most top Democrats is that he is running to draw votes away from Joe Biden to support of his friend, President Donald Trump, who West very publicly endorsed in 2016.
West is running as an independent, although he told Forbes in July he is running under a new group called the “Birthday Party,” named as such “because when (he) wins, it’s everybody’s birthday.”
