By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) – The U.S. centrist political group No Labels on Friday decided it will name a presidential ticket in the coming days, but leaders cautioned they may never find viable candidates willing to join a third-party bid.
After months of fundraising and scrambling to get on state ballots around the country, some 800 No Labels delegates, who include small donors, voted Friday to launch a presidential campaign for the November election and identify potential candidates, No Labels leader Mike Rawlings said in a statement.
“They voted near unanimously to continue our 2024 project and move immediately to identify candidates to serve on the Unity presidential ticket,” Rawlings said.
However, leaders also warned delegates that no viable candidates may emerge, a sign that the entire exercise could ultimately fail, according to two sources on the private No Labels call.
No Labels, on its website, says it would mount a presidential bid “if the two major parties select candidates the vast majority of Americans don’t want to vote for in 2024.”
No Labels says it has raised $50 million to mount a third-party bid for president. Any such campaign could severely undercut votes for incumbent Joe Biden, Democrats worry.
“Their decision to move forward with a dark-money, Trump donor-funded third-party fantasy bid is shameful and puts millions of Americans at risk,” Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, a political committee supporting Biden, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Rami Ayyub, Ismail Shakil, Heather Timmons, Susan Heavey and Leslie Adler)
Comments