No Labels ditches efforts for a bipartisan presidential ticket

No Labels, the centrist political group that tried to field a bipartisan “unity” ticket for president in November, is throwing in the towel.

No Labels founder and CEO Nancy Jacobson announced Thursday the group would be ending its efforts to compete on the 2024 ballot after failing to recruit a presidential and vice presidential candidate with a viable path to victory.

“Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before. But 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,” Ms. Jacobson said in a statement provided to The Washington Times.

The move comes a week after former Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie became the latest high-profile politician to publicly reject joining a No Labels unity ticket.

No Labels also had no luck recruiting former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, or Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, among others.

The organization was also facing tremendous pressure from the Democratic Party and liberal activist groups to abandon its bid to put a unity ticket on the November ballot out of concern it would draw away more votes from President Biden, particularly in battleground states where the margin of victory will likely be razor-thin.

The left-leaning activist group MoveOn, which called the unity ticket plan “reckless,” issued a statement praising No Labels for dropping their quest.

“If the reports are true, millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting said.

On top of its recruitment problems, No Labels leadership suffered the loss of two top leaders last month.

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a No Labels co-founder and former Democrat, died unexpectedly on March 27 after a fall. He was 82.

Two weeks earlier, No Labels’ co-chair, former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, abruptly resigned ahead of the group’s launch of its presidential selection committee.

The No Labels bid to field a 2024 presidential ticket was fueled by polls showing voters are unenthusiastic about a rematch between Mr. Biden and former President Donald Trump. Both men are now their parties’ presumptive nominees running neck-and-neck nationally and in battleground states.

The most viable third-party candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is siphoning off about 10% of voters.

Ms. Jacobson said No Labels will remain active, even though it won’t be recruiting a presidential ticket.

“Suffice it to say that this movement is not done. In fact, it is just beginning,” Ms. Jacobson said.