Kanye West makes it on the ballot in Minnesota

Rapper Kanye West has officially secured a spot on the presidential ballot in Minnesota this November as a third-party candidate.

The Minnesota secretary of State’s office shows West as one of seven presidential candidates who will appear on the presidential ballot. He will run as an Independent in the state.

West’s campaign, which is reportedly being aided by GOP strategists, has already secured spots on the presidential ballot in a number of states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah and Vermont. 

West is a former supporter of President Trump who famously visited the White House in 2018. West said in an interview earlier this month that he is “not denying” that his campaign could do damage to former Vice President Joe Biden’s White House bid. 

Minnesota is set to be one of several battleground states in the presidential race and one of the few states where Trump could go on offense. The Gopher State narrowly went for Hillary Clinton by 1.5 points in 2016, and Republicans are eager to make deeper inroads there this year.

It’s still unclear if West’s quixotic presidential bid would be able to gain traction even if he ultimately appears on a substantial number of ballots. A Politico-Morning Consult national poll released this month showed him garnering just 2 percent support among likely voters overall, as well as among Black voters.