Report: No Labels Ditches Effort at ‘Unity Ticket’

(AP)

Centrist group No Labels reportedly will ditch efforts to put together a “unity ticket” for a third-party White House run.

Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal reported that No Labels’ founder and CEO Nancy Jacobson told allies the group will announce Monday that it won’t pursue a presidential campaign because it hasn’t been able to recruit a credible and winning ticket.

Jacobson has reached out to 30 potential candidates, the outlet reported. There was no immediate comment from No Labels, the Journal reported.

The pullout comes after the death of founding Chair Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and after No Labels failed to lure top-tier candidates to run on its ticket, the Journal reported.

According to the Journal, those who ruled out running on the ticket include former GOP New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who’s running for the Senate, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who’s retiring from the Senate.

No Labels claimed it secured ballot access in 19 states, including the battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina, and had said it had a $70 million budget, the Journal reported.

The group’s efforts riled Democrats and some Republicans, however, arguing that a No Labels ticket could hurt President Joe Biden and benefit former President Donald Trump.

Still, No Labels insisted it wasn’t just trying to play spoiler, the Journal reported.

The exit doesn’t thin the White House contenders, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and academic and activist Cornel West.

The Libertarian Party and the Green Party also plan to field candidates, the Journal noted.