The group had obtained ballot access in 21 states and claimed to have a clear path for getting on the ballot in the remaining states, once candidates were nominated. But the group struggled to find anyone with significant stature who was willing to take on the role, in the face of significant opposition from Democrats who believed the No Labels effort would help reelect former president Donald Trump.
Many of the potential candidates they courted ruled out a bid, including Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), former Maryland governor Larry Hogan (R) and former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan (R). More recently, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) declined to run on the ticket after spending weeks looking at whether he could mount a successful third party run. He commissioned polling in 13 states before ruling out a bid.
News of the group’s decision was first reported Thursday by the Wall Street Journal.
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.”
Democrats continue to be concerned about third party and independent campaigns run by attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., scholar Cornel West and Green Party leader Jill Stein.
“Now, it’s time for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to see the writing on the wall that no third-party has a path forward to winning the presidency,” said Rahna Epting, the executive director of MoveOn, a progressive group that also opposed No Labels. “We must come together to defeat the biggest threat to our democracy and country: Donald Trump.”
Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.