MONKS — The No Labels movement, which raises the idea of a third party competing in the United States presidential elections, decided on Friday to nominate a candidate presidential for the 2024 elections after months in which he has considered the launch of a so-called “unity candidacy” and has held conversations with several prospects.
Delegates voted to move forward during an online convention of 800 of them from every state, said Mike Rawlings, a former Dallas mayor who is affiliated with No Labels.
No Labels did not plan to name its presidential and vice presidential candidates on Friday. Instead, the group will announce its candidate selection process on March 14, Rawlings said in a statement.
“Although we have met virtually, your excitement and desire to bring this divided nation back together has come across the screen,” Rawlings, president of Friday’s convention, said of the delegates in a written statement.
The decision to move forward comes as several potential candidates have already rejected the idea of running, including former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after former President Donald Trump won by a large majority in the Republican Party primaries held on Super Tuesday.
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan had considered running in the presidential election under the No Labels banner, but ultimately decided to seek the Republican nomination for the United States Senate for his state. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who is retiring from West Virginia, has said he will not run for president.
The triumphs of Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden on Super Tuesday they practically assured that there will be a rematch of the 2020 elections in November. Polls indicate that many Americans do not have a favorable opinion of Biden or Trump, a dynamic that No Labels sees as an opportunity to offer a bipartisan ticket.
But Biden supporters fear No Labels will undermine wishes the president in the most contested states and criticize that the group does not reveal its donors or much of how it makes its decisions.
The executive director of the Democratic-aligned group MoveOn said a No Labels candidacy would help Trump win.
“Any candidate who joins the No Labels presidential ticket will be complicit in enabling Donald Trump and MAGA extremists to win a second term in the White House,” CEO Rahna Epting said in a statement.
Source: With information from AP
