No Labels, the centrist organization working to gain ballot access across the United States for its political party arm to potentially nominate a unity candidate later this year, announced Friday it qualified for the ballot in Maine, the 13th state.
“This milestone validates what has been clear for a long time, which is that the No Labels message and movement resonates with people across this great state,” No Labels Maine State Co-Chairman Justin Schair said.
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“The majority of us in the middle are hungry for a better choice in this next election and for unifying leadership in the White House that can heal our country’s divisions. Getting No Labels on the ballot in Maine brings us a big step closer to making this happen,” he added.
Notably, Maine is one of two states that recently made headlines for declaring former President Donald Trump ineligible for its ballot. Trump was similarly ruled in violation of the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause by the Colorado Supreme Court and thereby denied ballot access in the state. Colorado happens to be another state where No Labels has successfully qualified for the ballot without having chosen candidates yet.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court Friday agreed to weigh in on the Colorado decision after Trump’s lawyers sought to have it thrown out. The Colorado ruling, similar to Maine, cited the insurrection clause. Arguments in the case won’t be heard until Feb. 8.
In addition to Maine and Colorado, No Labels has gained access to ballots in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, and Utah. It has also either filed for access or is collecting signatures in 14 other states.
According to Former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, the No Labels director of ballot integrity, “This is democracy in action and we look forward to continue bringing more Mainers into our movement in the months ahead.”
The organization has faced the intensifying ire of other organizations looking to prevent a second former President Donald Trump term, with such groups claiming a No Labels ticket would ensure his victory in 2024.
On a call last month, Democratic organizations Third Way and MoveOn hosted a call with left-leaning groups End Citizens United, the Lincoln Project, American Bridge, Public Citizen, and Reproductive Freedom for All, and some anti-Trump Republicans, including strategists Bill Kristol and Sarah Longwell, who serve as board chairman and executive director of the Republican Accountability Project, respectively. Biden campaign surrogate former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, and a representative for Democratic billionaire Reid Hoffman, Dmitri Mehlhorn, were also on the call.
The phone conference served as a forum for the groups to chart their plan to take down No Labels. Their suggested strategies included suing the organization to publicize its donors, something No Labels has declined to do, collecting damaging information to use against potential staff, donors, and candidates, and issuing a stern warning to donors about supporting the group.
A source familiar with No Label’s plans told the Washington Examiner the call and subsequent efforts by the groups to intimidate them have done nothing to deter their efforts to ultimately offer a president and vice president alternative.
The organization found the strategies to be despicable, and the group believes those involved have crossed a line in suggesting they’d look to sabotage the reputations of people who support their efforts, according to the source.
But these groups aren’t the only ones casting doubt on No Labels’s potential for success.
Russell Verney, former campaign manager for history-making independent candidate Ross Perot in 1996 and a top adviser to his campaign in 1992, said No Labels’s current strategy and rationale seem “awful weak and confusing.”
He referred to the centrist organization as the “third iteration” of the Unity08 movement and the 2012 Americans Elect movement, which was mainly centered on former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg as a potential candidate.
Verney claimed No Labels is premised on the two major parties being incapable of solving problems and thus an outsider is necessary. But he noted the potential candidates speculated to be nominated in 2024 on the organization’s ticket aren’t considered outsiders by any means but rather candidates affiliated with the major parties who can draw broader support.
Verney further noted the difficulties in No Labels possibly pairing a Democrat and Republican on a ticket without being sure how they might select them or if conflicts would emerge between them.
“There’s just so many unknown questions,” he said.
“We’re into the election year and they haven’t announced who the candidate will be [or] what the rationale is for the candidate to run,” he added, listing off concerns with No Labels’s operation.
The organization has been open about the fact that its potential nomination of a presidential ticket is not definite. A source familiar with No Labels’s thinking said that ultimately, if the group can’t find a candidate it believes can win, it will not put up a ticket. For the group, both a clear path and a great candidate are necessary.
No Labels has had several informal conversations with prospective candidates that it believes could fit its centrist ticket and hasn’t batted down names that have been suggested in various articles about its presidential endeavors.
One of the most prominent names that has been floated on several occasions as a No Labels candidate is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who has bucked his party on multiple occasions during his tenure. Manchin has helped fuel these rumors by refusing to rule out a presidential bid and headlining a No Labels town hall in New Hampshire. He also had reportedly been deciding between running for reelection to the Senate as an independent, running for president on the No Labels ticket, and retiring altogether before he announced last year that he wouldn’t be seeking reelection.
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His announcement regarding his status in the Senate didn’t help to quash speculation either, as he left his plans vague. According to the senator, he plans to instead travel the country and speak out “to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
Other names that have been speculated as potential No Labels candidates include Govs. Chris Sununu (R-NH) and Doug Burgum (R-ND), former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, and former Reps. Liz Cheney and Will Hurd.
