No Labels will likely take another step towards forming a bipartisan presidential ticket in November’s general election, when the centrist group’s delegates huddle during a virtual gathering on Friday.
Two sources with knowledge of the meeting on Thursday confirmed to Fox News that the roughly 800 delegates taking part are expected to vote to give a thumbs up to fielding what the No Labels has described as a “unity ticket” in the presidential election.
No Labels officials would not publicly confirm any plans for tomorrow’s virtual gathering. But in a statement to Fox News, No Labels senior strategist Ryan Clancy did say “we expect our delegates to encourage the process to continue.”
But the expected move, first reported by the Associated Press, comes as some high-profile potential candidates for the No Labels ticket have taken their names out of contention.
NO LABELS CHARGES OPPONENTS ARE TRYING TO KEEP IT OFF THE BALLOT
No Labels leadership and guests from left, Pat McCrory, Co-Executive Director, Margaret White, Dan Webb, National Co-Chair, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis and former Senator Joe Lieberman, speak about the 2024 election at the National Press Club, in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
For over a year, No Labels has mulled a third party ticket, as it pointed to poll after poll suggesting that many Americans were anything but enthused about a 2024 election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
And No Labels had long said that it would decide whether to launch a presidential ticket following Super Tuesday, when 16 states from coast to coast held nominating primaries and caucuses.
Trump is now considered the presumptive Republican nominee, after winning 14 of the 15 GOP nominating contests on Tuesday. Trump’s last remaining rival – former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – dropped out of the 2024 race on Wednesday.
Biden also ran the table on Super Tuesday, winning 14 of the 15 Democratic contests. And Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota – one of the two long-shot challengers to the president – suspended his White House bid on Wednesday.
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Both Biden and Trump will formally clinch their party nominations in the next week or two, and their campaigns have now moved into general election mode.
No Labels is not expected to name its presidential and vice presidential picks on Friday, but instead will likely kick off a formal selection process which would lead to the naming of candidates in the coming weeks.
But former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a former No Labels leader who was considered a potential contender for the group’s ticket, recently took his name out of contention as he announced a run this year for an open Senate seat in his home state.
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) was co-headliner alongside former Utah governor Jon Huntsman (R) at the ‘Common Sense’ Town Hall, an event sponsored by the bipartisan group No Labels, held on Monday evening, July 17, 2023, at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
And moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is not seeking re-election and who flirted with a White House run, has also said he won’t launch a presidential bid.
There was plenty of speculation that Haley would consider running on a No Labels ticket if she dropped her Republican White House bid. And No Labels had expressed interest in Haley earlier this year.
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But Haley repeatedly nixed joining a No Labels ticket, most recently on Tuesday in an interview on “Fox and Friends.”
“What I will tell you is I’m a conservative Republican. I have said many, many times, I would not run as an independent. I would not run as No Labels because I am a Republican, and that’s who I’ve always been,” she reiterated.
Former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks as she announces she is suspending her 2024 Republican presidential campaign, in Charleston, South Carolina, March 6, 2024. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
No Labels says it’s already on the ballot in 14 states – and currently working in over a dozen other states to obtain access.
There’s been a chorus of calls from Democrats warning that a No Labels ticket would pave a path to victory for Trump in November. But the group dismisses that criticism.
“That’s not our goal here,” Lieberman told Fox News Digital late last year. “We’re not about electing either President Trump or President Biden.”
The No Labels meeting on Friday is closed to press coverage. The group says it will release a statement after the gathering concludes.
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