Two developments on Wednesday suggest Kanye West might actually be trying to become a candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Someone named Andre Bodiford filed a Statement of Organization with the U.S. Federal Election Commission on Wednesday using the address of West’s Wyoming ranch. Bodiford is registered as both treasurer and custodian of records for the “principal campaign committee” for Kanye West.
Bodiford did not respond to a request from iHeartRadio.ca for comment on Thursday morning. The listed website "kanye2020.org," which was registered in March 2018, is currently inactive.
According to the FEC, the filing does not mean West is a candidate. First, he must raise or spend more than $5,000 U.S. on campaign activity and file a Statement of Candidacy with the FEC.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Election Board tweeted that West has qualified for the ballot there. The deadline for filing was Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the board said a rep for West filed the required documents and paid the $35,000 U.S. fee. Oklahoma is one of only a few states that does not require independent candidates to obtain signatures in order to register.
Wednesday was also the last day for independent candidates to register in Florida and South Carolina – and deadlines for getting on ballots in Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico and Indiana have passed.
To register in Michigan, West needs 12,000 signatures by Thursday. His native Illinois requires 25,000 signatures and has a July 20th filing deadline. Maine, Missouri, New Jersey and New York have filing deadlines before the end of July.
On Tuesday, New York magazine’s Ben Jacobs reported that West scrapped his plan to run only days after his July 4th announcement that he was running to replace Donald Trump. Steve Kramer, whose company was hired to get the rap star on ballots in Florida and South Carolina, is quoted as confirming on July 9: “He’s out.”
Neither West or his reps have commented on the report.
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Many people have speculated that West’s declaration was a publicity stunt for his forthcoming album God's Country or a move to steal votes from presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden, but TMZ reported last week that West was “in the midst” of “a serious bout with his bipolar disorder” and his loved ones “are worried, but they believe things will stabilize.”
Last year, West opened up about his mental health issues during an interview on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. “If you don’t take medication every day to keep you at a certain state, you have a potential to ramp up and it can take you to a point where you can even end up in the hospital," West explained. “And you start acting erratic, as TMZ would put it.”
Last week, West told Forbes he was running for the newly-created Birthday Party, with Wyoming preacher Michelle Tidball as his running mate, and said he believes “God appoints the president.” (In 2017, Tidball said doing chores is an effective treatment for mental illness. “If you would get up every day and make your bed and do your dishes, you would be better.”)
Fellow rapper 50 Cent said West was only running "to create a diversion and distract people" but Chance The Rapper seemed to endorse West in a series of controversial tweets. (He later tweeted: “I understand the improbability of Ye winning the 46th Presidential seat.")