(The Center Square) — No Labels is working to secure ballot access in all 50 states for the 2024 presidential election, including Georgia, even as the party plays coy about nominating a candidate for the nation’s top office.
A party spokesperson confirmed that No Labels is on the ballot in 12 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota and Utah. However, the party still needs to be added to the ballot in Georgia.
“We have a strategy to get on the ballot in all 50 states,” a spokesperson told The Center Square, but when pressed for more details, they did not provide any.
“The important issue, as I see it, is that No Labels is funded entirely by dark money,” Dan McMillan, founder and executive director of Save Democracy in America, told The Center Square via email. “They have the gall to pose as an alternative to the two broken parties, yet they exemplify the worst in our politics. The sheer brazenness of it boggles the mind.”
The Georgia Republican Party’s state executive committee voted to place 11 candidates on the ballot for its primary on March 12: former President Donald Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum; former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Air National Guard Maj. David Stuckenberg, businessman Ryan Binkley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Perry Johnson, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Scott has suspended his campaign.
“The events of 2020 underscored that Georgia voters do not strictly adhere to party lines; rather, they prioritize key issues,” Javier Palomarez, founder and CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council, told The Center Square via email. “Given that 50% of voters hold unfavorable views of both Trump and Biden and that both are polling at or below 45% in a direct matchup, a unity ticket stands to gain momentum from disenchanted, issue-focused voters.”
Richard Gordon, president at Gordon Strategic Advisors, said a No Labels candidate wouldn’t alter the outcome in a state like South Carolina, where the Republican nominee will win South Carolina “handily.”
“However, assuming No Labels runs a center/right candidate such as [U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia], this could have a devastating effect on the Democratic nominee in Georgia. President Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes,” Gordon told The Center Square via email. “In all likelihood, a percentage of Biden voters who voted for him as the lesser of two evils last time will vote for a third party if given the opportunity. Biden has no room for error. No Labels can cost him Georgia and the election.”
By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
