RFK Jr.'s name must stay on Michigan ballot, judge rules

• RFK announced after exiting the presidential race plans to withdraw his name from the ballot in key swing states to avoid hurting Trump's chances in November.

Driving the news: Kennedy argued in his suit Friday that the election "could be drastically changed, and the electorate's votes diminished and rendered invalid, if the Michigan Bureau of Elections places a name on a ballot for an individual that withdrew" from the race, but Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates ruled in favor of Benson.

• "Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office," Yates wrote in the opinion and order.

Zoom out: The Wisconsin election commission last week voted to reject Kennedy's request to withdraw from the ballot.

• Meanwhile, Kennedy filed a lawsuit in North Carolina challenging the state's board of elections' decision determining that his name should remain on the ballot.

What they're saying: Benson in a post to X cited Michigan law stating that candidates who are nominated and accept a minor party's nomination "shall not be permitted to withdraw."

The other side: Aaron Siri, a lawyer for Kennedy in the Michigan suit, said that leaving RFK's name on the ballot "upends ballot integrity," per AP.

Go deeper: What's inside RFK Jr.'s parting gift for Trump