No Labels won't run a 2024 presidential candidate, but still seeks fees in Arizona lawsuit

No Labels is a no-go for 2024.

The organization that qualified in Arizona and other states as the No Labels party officially closed the book on its ambition to field a presidential candidate this year. Its announcement Thursday came about a week after the March 27 death of former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, one of the group's most vocal champions.

The group's statement said its movement will continue this year to "promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith."

It had made headlines for about two years with its plans to field a candidate Americans could choose instead of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Its goal greatly worried Democrats and their supporters who figured an allegedly centrist candidate would siphon more votes from Biden, leading to a spoiler effect that would help Trump win in November. A spoiler is still possible in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent candidate running for president who recently claimed Biden is a "much worse threat to democracy" than Trump.

Why did No Labels drop its 2024 presidential bid?

No Labels was founded in 2010 and first led to the creation of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress. The group later sought ballot access for the 2024 election, saying it would field a third-party presidential candidate if voters had no other choices but Biden and Trump. It went on to qualify as a political party in 19 states, including Arizona on March 7, 2023, and previously announced it had raised about $60 million.

But it lacked a firm candidate who wanted to run as president under the No Labels ticket. One apparent option seemed to be U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia , but Manchin said in February he wouldn't be running. Last month, he said No Labels needs to "take a hard look" at whether it would be a spoiler in the race. Another possible candidate, Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination this year, announced a week ago the No Labels candidate would not be him.

Nancy Jacobson, the group's CEO and founder, wrote in a February op-ed the group needs "an exceptional leader to take that road despite its hazards and challenges."

It never found one.

"No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House," the group said Thursday in its statement. "No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down."

"We are concerned that the division and strife gripping the country will reach a critical point after this election, regardless of who wins," it continued, vowing to hold a "summit" after November's election "to discuss the path forward for our community and our nation."

Will No Labels still be active in Arizona in 2024?

No Labels also made waves in Arizona when it sued Secretary of State Adrian Fontes for his decision to allow non-presidential candidates running under the No Labels ticket to be placed on the ballot. Arizona U.S. District Judge John Tuchi ruled against Fontes in January.

By that time, three candidates had already filed statements of interest to run as No Labels candidates for the U.S. Senate, state Corporation Commission and the state Legislature. One of them, Richard Grayson, admitted he changed his party registration from Democrat to No Labels to "excoriate the selfish and evil people" behind the group.

None of the candidates turned in petition signatures in an attempt to challenge Tuchi's decision. But Tuchi's ruling in the lawsuit included awarding attorneys' fees to No Labels, and Fontes' office is continuing to challenge the amount. Court paperwork filed last month shows No Labels wants $200,894.50 in fees, which includes almost $41,000 its lawyers claim they spent working on the application for attorneys' fees and its replies to Fontes' challenges. The group also filed for reimbursement of $569.94 in costs.

Kara Karlson, an assistant attorney general defending Fontes' office, argued in a March 11 filing that No Labels shouldn't get fees for the allegation the office violated state law, which Tuchi dismissed from the lawsuit, and asked Tuchi to reduce the fees to "between $94,700.00 and $110,956.90." A ruling on the final amount is still pending.

"I always knew those guys were full of it. I just wish they hadn't given so many Arizona voters false hope," Fontes said of No Labels after hearing the group wouldn't run a presidential candidate.

Yolanda Bejarano, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, said in response her party "is still laser-focused on talking to voters about the many ways that Democrats have delivered results for Arizonans on the issues they care most about, including creating good-paying jobs, protecting our democracy, and codifying reproductive rights."

As of the state's March 19 Presidential Preference Election, 27,631 Arizona voters had active registrations with No Labels, online records show. That's nearly as many registrations as the venerable Arizona Libertarian Party and about 10 times as many as the state's Green Party garnered by that time.

Reach the reporter at  rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: No Labels won't field a presidential candidate, seek Arizona lawsuit fees