Rapper, designer, and entertainment mogul Kanye West officially filed as an Independent president candidate with the Oklahoma State Election Board today.
Independent presidential candidate Kanye West has qualified for the General Election ballot in Oklahoma. (Today is Oklahoma's deadline for Independent & Unrecognized Party presidential candidates to file statements of candidacy with their petitions or filing fee.)— Oklahoma State Election Board (@OKelections) July 15, 2020
You can view a PDF of his Statement of Candidacy here.
West tweeted on July 4th that he was going to run for President, something he had casually mentioned a few times over the past decade but that few people took seriously.
We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States 🇺🇸! #2020VISION— ye (@kanyewest) July 5, 2020
Even after his tweet, few indications emerged that he was taking concrete steps to begin a presidential run. His Oklahoma filing today, which cost $35,000, seems to be the first definitive move toward an independent candidacy for the White House.
Kanye has some Oklahoma ties, actually. According to this article at NYMag.com, "His mother, Donda West — “Donda’s Place” is written in all-caps at the top of his statement of candidacy — was born and raised in Oklahoma City, where West’s grandfather Portwood Williams Sr. was a civil-rights activist."
Kanye had a rather high profile and seemingly sincere and deep conversion to evangelical Christianity last fall, which has changed the direction of his music and personal life.
from MuskogeePolitico.com
