Robert F. Kennedy in New York court as he fights a ballot access lawsuit, claiming he does not live in the state

ALBANY, NEW YORK — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared in a New York court Monday to challenge a lawsuit accusing him of falsely claiming to live in New York while seeking to run for office in the state.

Kennedy sat at his lawyers’ table, occasionally taking notes, as the civil trial opened in the state capital, Albany. Under state election law, a judge must decide the case without a jury.

The lawsuit alleges that Kennedy’s nomination petition falsely stated that his residence was in the northern suburbs of New York City when he had actually lived in Los Angeles since 2014, when he married “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actress Cheryl Hines.

The lawsuit seeks to invalidate his request. The case was brought by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC run by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden.

The first witness Monday was David Michaelis, a longtime friend who testified that he regularly invited Kennedy from 2014 to 2017 to his home in Westchester County, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan. Michaelis was presented with a court document in which Kennedy said his “friend and landlord” Michaelis asked him to move out of that home in March 2023 because he was a Biden supporter.

Michaelis called the claim “fiction” and said Kennedy was never a tenant in his home. He said he last saw Kennedy in Los Angeles around 2019.

Kennedy declined to comment during the court recess but said he would speak to reporters after the hearing ends.

Kennedy has the potential to do better than any independent presidential candidate in decades, having gained ground with a famous name and one loyal baseStrategists from both major parties fear he could win enough votes to swing the election.

His campaign team said he had enough signatures to qualify. in 42 statesso far. His election campaign has faced challenges and lawsuits in various states, including North Carolina And New Jersey.

Kennedy’s petition to vote in New York lists his residence as a home owned by another friend in Katonah, an affluent Westchester County suburb where Kennedy said he moved after leaving Michaelis’s home. But the complaint claims the candidate “has no significant or continuing connection to the property” and has spent “very little, if any, time there.”

He has no written lease and neighbors have not seen it, the complaint filed in June says.

“Further, the evidence will show that Kennedy’s wife and children live in California, along with his three dogs, two crows, an emu and his personal belongings,” the lawsuit adds.

Kennedy’s lawyers argue that the 70-year-old candidate, who for decades led a New York-based environmental group and whose namesake father was a New York senator, has lived in the state since he was 10.

“Although Mr. Kennedy purchased a home in California and temporarily relocated his family there while his wife pursued her acting career, Mr. Kennedy is and always has been a New Yorker,” his lawyers wrote in a court filing.

During pretrial arguments, Kennedy’s attorney, F. Michael Ostrander, said his client had a “continuing connection” to the Katonah area.

According to court records, Kennedy visits the Katonah home as often as possible during his campaign, pays New York state income taxes and pays rent to the owner of the Katonah home. It is where he receives his mail, is registered to vote, is licensed to practice law, keeps family clothes and photos, has a registered car and has listed it as the address on his driver’s license, and several other things.

“He even keeps his beloved falcons in New York state,” attorney William Savino said in a news release Monday. He added that Kennedy plans to return to New York as soon as his wife retires.

The trial date comes a day after a video was posted on social media showing Kennedy explaining a New York episode in his life: how a decade ago he recovered Bear killed by motorist and abandoned in New York’s Central Park with a bike on top.

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Associated Press journalist Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.