The bipartisan centrist group No Labels has decided it’s a no go on presenting a third party Presidential ticket in the 2024 Presidential Election. The main reason: it can’t get anyone who’ll accept it’s invitation to run.
The group has been dogged with mounting criticism that like many other third parties it’d merely be a spoiler that would help throw what’s expected to be a close Presidential election to former President Donald Trump. Although there are still other third parties that intend to put up candidates, No Label’s decision more than ever makes the election more of a showdown between President Joe Biden and Trump.
Here’s how The Hill frames this big political story:
The bipartisan group No Labels won’t put forward a third-party presidential ticket after failing to find a candidate.
“Today, No Labels is ending our effort to put forth a Unity ticket in the 2024 presidential election,” the group said in a release Thursday.
“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. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”
The Wall Street Journal first broke the news Thursday of No Labels’s plans.
One of this cycle’s biggest questions was whether No Labels would move forward with a third-party ticket as a contrast to President Biden and former President Trump’s unpopularity with voters.
Leaders floated former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as possible candidates before running through a list that grew narrower as more names fell off.
Last month, the group blew past its own deadline to give an update about its strategy, extending it to mid-April. And last week, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined a lengthy list of would-be recruits who preemptively turned down the position.
Democrats were keeping close tabs on No Labels as they devote more resources and targeted focus to third-party candidacies they deem as “spoilers.” But as weeks and months passed with no candidate, some recalibrated to concentrate on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His choice of an ultra-wealthy running mate in Nicole Shanahan does not quell concerns of his potential longevity in the race.
But even with Kenney’s presence in the race, No Labels’s canceled plans further solidifies the contest as a showdown between Biden and Trump.
Biden allies and some Republicans had criticized the No Labels effort, saying a third-party campaign could draw some moderate votes away from Biden and boost Trump’s reelection bid.
Some political organizers say independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., could have a similar anti-Biden effect on the fall election.
“Millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” said Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn Political Action. “Now, it’s time for Robert Kennedy Junior to see the writing on the wall that no third-party has a path forward to winning the presidency.”
Kennedy has dismissed the concerns as he has continued his White House bid. But Republican organizers have set off alarms about Kennedy drawing votes away from Trump too. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the former president, last year called the third-party hopeful someone “who pretends to have conservative values.”
The No Labels presidential project was premised on the idea that President Biden and Trump would be the major party nominees in the spring of 2024, despite widespread voter desire for other candidates. From the start, the group’s leaders, who did not disclose the donors funding the effort, said they did not want to help Trump win another term and were not interested in running a protest campaign.
“I just wanted to emphasize on the spoiler question: I would not be involved if I thought in any account that we would do something to spoil the election in favor of Donald Trump,” co-chair Benjamin Chavis said in early 2023. “That’s just not going to happen.”
Tyler Cymet, the chair of Maryland’s No Labels party, said discussions about finding a candidate, including from nonpolitical spheres such as the military and academia, continued up until Thursday, but the consensus was reached that there was no path forward for any person. The group also discussed putting in a stand-in name, such as the late Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a No Labels co-chair who died last week in a fall, in states where the group had ballot access. That idea was also ruled out.
Tim Kneeland, a No Labels delegate from Iowa, said that the group has been in discussions about a path forward and most involved felt that they wanted to avoid putting a ticket forward that wouldn’t win. Many realized that potential candidates would face a steep climb convincing voters and others who considered any No Labels contender a spoiler.
“What we learned is the environment is so toxic for anyone who has been considering this,” he said. “We were having a real hard time finding quality candidates.”
Much of that toxicity was fostered by a network of groups working to ensure a third-party candidate did not make it harder for Biden to win reelection. They included the moderate Democratic group Third Way, the Lincoln Project and a new group called Citizens to Save Our Republic, founded by former House minority leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.). They ran an aggressive effort to privately dissuade potential No Labels candidates and publicly make the case that the third party effort would only help Trump in public.
“We will remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lifetimes,” the group said in its statement. “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.”
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