No Labels won’t run a third-party campaign after trying to recruit a centrist presidential candidate

NEW YORK (AP) — The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization failed to attract a high-profile centrist willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

“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 statement sent out to allies. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”

The announcement leaves anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the most prominent independent candidate in the 2024 presidential race.

No Labels’ decision, which comes just days after the death of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, caps months of discussions during which the group raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. While No Labels’ decision may disappoint people seeking a potentially viable third-party option, it came as a relief to Democrats who have long feared that a No Labels ticket would undermine Biden’s coalition and help Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

It also further cements a general election rematch this fall between the Democratic incumbent and the former president. Many voters do not have favorable views of Biden and Trump, a dynamic that No Labels had sought to address.

The Wall Street Journal first reported No Labels’ decision.

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