Former staffers and backers of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are working to build out the We The People Party he formed during his 2024 presidential bid, aiming to secure ballot lines for like‑minded candidates in the 2026 midterms and keep the option open for a 2028 presidential run. The project is focused on states with difficult ballot‑access rules and is pitched to anti‑establishment voters aligned with Kennedy’s "Make America Healthy Again" movement.
In November 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, after having earlier left the Democratic primary to run as an independent. During that campaign season, Kennedy and his allies created the We The People Party as one vehicle to help him clear ballot‑access hurdles in some states that are more difficult for pure independents, according to Politico.
Politico reports that Kennedy ultimately appeared on the 2024 general‑election ballot in dozens of states, sometimes under his own name as an independent and in some cases on a We The People Party line. The exact number of states that used the We The People label is not independently confirmed here and is therefore not specified.
According to Politico, supporters of Kennedy have since moved to formalize and expand that party infrastructure. The piece identifies Levi Leatherberry, a former Kennedy campaign staffer, as the current chair of the We The People Party. Leatherberry and other backers held an online event in 2025 to outline a plan to turn the group into a standing political party that other candidates could use in future cycles, including 2026 and potentially 2028.
Politico describes Leatherberry’s strategy as centered on securing ballot access in a critical mass of states, rather than immediately pursuing nationwide status. Leatherberry is quoted as saying that getting on the ballot in roughly the mid‑20s number of states would be enough to make the party "useful" to a presidential contender, and he has spoken about gradually building the organization out over several years rather than in a single cycle.
New York is one of the early focal points of this organizing, Politico reports, because the state has tightened its rules for third parties and independents in recent years. Those stricter standards have made it harder for smaller parties to retain ballot status from one election to the next. Supporters of We The People see winning a statewide race on their line as one way to secure longer‑term access under New York law.
As part of that effort, the party has aligned itself with Larry Sharpe, a New York libertarian figure who has previously run for governor and who acted as a surrogate for Kennedy during the 2024 campaign, according to Politico. Sharpe has promoted We The People as an anti‑establishment vehicle for voters skeptical of both major parties. In Politico’s account, he characterizes the party’s positioning as broadly anti‑establishment but acknowledges that the term can be interpreted in different ways.
The party’s revival comes against the backdrop of tensions within the broader coalition around Kennedy and Trump. Politico recounts recent friction involving Trump ally Laura Loomer, who has publicly criticized Kennedy aide Stefanie Spear and raised questions about perceived 2028 ambitions in the MAHA — "Make America Healthy Again" — movement. In response to such speculation, Kennedy has publicly denied that he is planning another presidential run in 2028, stating that he is not a candidate for that race.
Despite Kennedy’s denial, Politico notes that some figures around the We The People effort continue to talk about the possibility that he or another candidate could use the party as a third‑party vehicle in 2028. Sharpe, for example, has expressed hope that Kennedy would ultimately lead such a ticket if no one else emerges to do so.
Politico further reports that Leatherberry has floated potential alliances with other anti‑establishment or civil‑liberties‑focused figures, including former Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Representative Thomas Massie, though there is no public indication that either has formally embraced the party. The organizing effort is pitched at voters drawn to Kennedy’s MAHA framing, which emphasizes "health freedom" and skepticism of some public‑health and pharmaceutical policies.
One of the selling points Leatherberry advances, according to Politico, is that once We The People secures ballot status in a state, future candidates can more easily appear on that line without mounting expensive signature‑gathering drives. He has argued that, where the party is recognized, its nominees would effectively gain access to the ballot "for free" as soon as they are selected by the party’s processes.
Politico reports that Kennedy himself has not publicly commented in detail on the latest phase of the We The People project. The article indicates that Leatherberry is leading the day‑to‑day organizing and that communication between him and Kennedy about the party’s current trajectory has been limited.