Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced Monday that he has launched a political party to get on the California ballot.

The We the People party is seeking to register 75,000 people in the state to be able to run against presidential candidates in the Republican and Democratic parties. California will hold its primary on March 5 along with more than a dozen other states as part of Super Tuesday.

“The current rules were written by the two establishment political parties in order to protect themselves from competition,” the campaign wrote in an email to potential supporters. “As it stands right now, the rules stop independent candidates like me from offering voters an alternative to the status quo.”

Kennedy first filed his candidacy for the Democratic party presidential nomination in April 2023 but switched to run as an Independent in October last year saying the two-party political system was “corrupt” and “rigged.”

Gaining ballot access as an independent candidate in states with significant electoral votes is a “very challenging” and expensive process that can only be accomplished by becoming a nominee of one of the two recognized political parties or by acquiring a set number of signatures, according to his campaign.

California requires 219,000 signatures for an individual candidate to gain ballot access. A new political party, however, can gain access with just 75,000 party registrations.

“While registering 75,000 people to a new party is still a big lift, the truth is our campaign already has more than 70,000 supporters in California,” the campaign said. 

As part of its California ballot drive, Kennedy’s campaign is asking supporters to register with the We the People party on the Secretary of State’s web site using “other” as the party preference and writing in We the People. It is also asking new party registrants to identify three other voters in the state who can register. 

The We the People party announcement comes just a few days after the bipartisan No Labels initiative announced it had won ballot access in 14 states and intends to win access in another 18 states by Election Day. While No Labels is not running a campaign or a candidate, it is seeking to lay the groundwork for an as-yet-unknown nominee who can take advantage of its ballot access before November’s election.

According to a recent Gallup poll taken in mid-January, Kennedy has a 52% favorable rating among U.S. adults, compared with 42% for GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and 41% for President Biden.