Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will announce his vice-presidential running mate Tuesday at Oakland, California.

The campaign has so far been tight-lipped about Mr. Kennedy’s pick, though several names have been floated. Chief among them is a Bay Area attorney and tech entrepreneur, Nicole Shanahan, who is a former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin and has a track record of donating to Democrats. Ms. Shanahan helped fund the Kennedy campaign’s $7 million Super Bowl ad.

Other names floated include an NFL quarterback and vaccine skeptic, Aaron Rodgers, and former Democratic congresswoman-turned-independent, Tulsi Gabbard. Also said to be on the short-list — the television host and working-class champion, Mike Rowe, and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang. A former professional wrestler and governor of Minnesota’s, Jesse Ventura’s, name was leaked early, but his son’s statement that his father hadn’t been formally asked for the job set that speculation largely to rest.

“Oh boy, this media! They were sure about Aaron, now they’re sure about Nicole. Tomorrow they’ll be sure about somebody else,” Kennedy campaign manager, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, posted to X.

Mr. Kennedy is making the announcement early — President Trump has yet to pick his vice president — because two dozen states require a named vice-presidential candidate for an independent presidential ticket to get on the ballot. Mr. Kennedy has so far earned ballot access in Utah and has collected enough signatures to be on the ballot in New Hampshire, Nevada, and Hawaii.

Mr. Kennedy, who is polling on average at just more than 12 percent, is mounting the most formidable independent presidential bid since Ross Perot in 1992. Ballot access, though, remains a major and costly challenge to the campaign, despite its rosy statements on exceeding “all its ballot access benchmarks” and promising to get it in all 50 states.

Democrats are planning to vigorously challenge Mr. Kennedy’s ballot access campaign. After failing to take third-party challenges seriously in 2016, the Democratic National Committee has reportedly launched a unit to go after third-party challengers — and Mr. Kennedy is at the top of the list.

A New Hampshire Kennedy campaign volunteer, Deb Post, who was canvassing for signatures at a libertarian conference, Liberty Forum, this month, told the Sun the campaign is continuing to collect signatures in the state because they expect every petition will be challenged. “They are being amazingly ridiculous about this,” she said.

The Kennedy campaign is keeping open the possibility he will seek the Libertarian Party’s nomination at their convention in May. The Libertarian Party had ballot access in 50 states in 2016 and 2020, and the party’s chairwoman, Angela McArdle, tells the Sun this year the “worst case scenario would be 48 states.”

Mr. Kennedy’s announcement at Oakland is expected to give the campaign a fundraising boost. Nearly 75 percent of donors to the Kennedy campaign are new to politics or didn’t donate in 2020, according to a report from Politico. The campaign often touts its support from young Americans, citing a Quinnipiac poll that shows Mr. Kennedy leading Mr. Trump and President Biden among voters younger than 35.

“The candidate we’ve chosen has ties to the area. I also have a great affection for Oakland,” Mr. Kennedy told a local Fox station about his pick.

That doesn’t narrow the list down much, as Ms. Shanahan was raised at Oakland and Mr. Rowe lives in the area. In 2020, Ms. Gabbard left the Hawaii Army National Guard to serve in a U.S. Army Reserve unit in Silicon Valley.

Ms. Shanahan would bring with her deep pockets and connections to Silicon Valley’s trove of wealthy donors. Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf tells the Sun if Mr. Kennedy chooses Ms. Shanahan, who has low name recognition, then he’s likely doing it for the money and because he thinks “California techies and younger people who are tech driven will pay attention to this.”

Ms. Gabbard conceded as much on the Drinkin’ Boys Podcast last week. “He’s chosen a very hard path,” she said of Mr. Kennedy. “The money thing, as much as you might not like it, is a practical reality when you’re essentially waging information warfare.”

Ms. Gabbard is said to be on the vice-presidential short lists of both Messrs. Kennedy and Trump. After running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Ms. Gabbard left the party in 2022 and campaigned for Republicans in the midterms. She is coming out with a book next month with the subtitle, “Leaving the Democratic Party Behind.”

Ms. Gabbard is courting libertarians, much like Mr. Kennedy. She spoke at the Liberty Forum earlier this month about free speech, homeschooling, “lawfare” against Mr. Trump, and Democrats as a “threat to freedom.”

“I don’t anticipate being back there until November 5th,” Ms. Gabbard said of her native Hawaii. For whom she’ll be campaigning, though, was not clear. She didn’t take questions from the audience.