A new political group, No Labels, has gained ballot access in three states and is aiming to offer voters a non-extreme third-party option for president in 2024. However, Democrats are worried that the group will act as a “spoiler” and hand the presidency to Republicans.
No Labels claims that its “unity ticket” would draw support equally from Republican and Democrat-leaning voters, but critics argue that the group is a blatant effort to hurt President Joe Biden’s chances of being reelected.
Third Way, a think tank, recently released a memo warning that a third-party candidate would mostly pick up voters who would otherwise vote for the Democratic candidate and that history shows that when third-party candidates make it to the November election, it only helps Republicans.
“No Labels is committed to fielding a candidate that will, intentionally or not, provide a crucial boost to Republicans — and a major obstacle to Biden,” the memo said.
Despite the criticism, No Labels insists that it will not fuel a spoiler effort and that if there is no path for an independent ticket to win or there are no candidates with broad appeal, it will not offer its ballot line to any presidential candidate.
It’s unclear who the No Labels candidate would be or what the main policy positions would include, but the group’s policy playbook includes policies attractive to Republicans as well as some Democrats. The playbook lays out reforms to simplify the tax code, secure energy independence by 2024, balance the budget by 2030, and reduce regulations – all generally favorable to GOP lawmakers.
No Labels has scheduled a nominating convention for April 2024, months ahead of the scheduled Republican and Democratic conventions. The group has been active in courting centrist lawmakers in Washington, D.C., including Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.