No Labels Ends Plans to Back Third-Party Ticket in 2024
WASHINGTON — No Labels, the centrist political group, said Thursday that it is abandoning plans to back a third-party “unity” ticket in the 2024 presidential election.
“No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House,” Nancy Jacobson, the group’s CEO, said in a written statement. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”
The decision capped months of speculation about the role No Labels would play in the presidential contest, especially after a series of prospective presidential candidates, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, eliminated themselves from consideration.
The move will also come as a relief to Democrats who long argued a No Labels candidate would siphon votes from President Joe Biden, and ultimately help former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Despite failing to come up with a ticket, No Labels managed to raise tens of millions of dollars for its effort, one that it vowed to continue Thursday by “representing unity and giving voice to America’s commonsense majority.”
“Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before,” Jacobson said.
No Labels was founded in 2010 to “push back on the extremes in our politics and push forward solutions to America’s biggest problems.”
“That work is more important now than ever,”Jacobson said.
The group said despite not having a candidate, it will remain engaged over the next year during “what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lives.”
Among other things, the organization said it will “promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith.”
“Like many Americans, we are concerned that the division and strife gripping the country will reach a critical point after this election, regardless of who wins. Post-election, No Labels will be prepared to champion and defend the values and interests of America’s commonsense majority,” it said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
