No Labels is about $50 million short of what it promised to spend on third-party presidential candidates in 2024, according to the group's tax filings.
The self-described centrist organization had just $20 million in cash as of early 2023, after paying $1.5 million in salaries to its six most senior employees. daily beast report. No Labels raised a total of $21.2 million in 2022, nearly double the amount from the previous year.
Until No Labels announces its decision on whether to field a third-party presidential candidate at next April's Dallas convention, its executives are living well. NoLabels CEO Nancy Jacobson collected $300,000 in 2022, according to tax records. The two co-executive directors, Margaret White and Elizabeth Morrison, also earned $315,440 and $203,975, respectively.
It's unclear where No Labels gets its funding. As a nonprofit organization, it is not required to disclose its donors, a fact that fuels left-wing conspiracy theories.
The $20 million figure is a far cry from what the group, which aims to “restore America's faith in democracy,” originally promised to raise during this period. In September 2022, the organization's leader said: new york times Columnist David Brooks said he is willing to spend $70 million to field a third-party candidate in 2024.
A NoLabels spokesperson offered a different take on the matter. washington free beacon, “We intend to spend zero dollars on the presidential election,” the group said.
Asked whether the group was abandoning its presidential ambitions, a spokesperson said: “No Labels does not run a campaign and will not run one, but if American voters want it, Unity will.'' We're going to have a voting line so we can give you tickets.” ”
September times The column infuriated Democratic operatives. President Joe Biden's senior advisers rushed to a meeting with No Labels in June, accusing the group of acting as a spoiler for the Republican Party. politiko He calls No Labels “a third-party nightmare for Democrats.” Axios This month, the White House reported it was “avoiding any public attacks that could have a negative impact.” [No Labels] oxygen. “
No Labels' finances, which had just $20 million stashed away, pale in comparison to the more than $90 million the Biden campaign announced in October that it had on hand. Former President Donald Trump, who is leading by double digits in the Republican primary, had nearly $38 million in savings at the end of September.
The group has not yet committed to naming a challenger to Biden and the eventual Republican nominee, but the group expects internal polling to show voters want a third option next November. He regularly makes threats.
No Labels has only gained voting rights in 12 states yet, but expects to gain voting rights in 16 others by the end of the year. The group's frontrunner appears to be Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has appeared at several of the group's events and is not seeking re-election this month. expressed that.
Manchin, like fellow NoLabels traveler and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), has been reluctant about whether he would pursue such a bid. Another former Republican governor, Jon Huntsman of Utah, appeared with Manchin at a No Labels event in New Hampshire last July.
While liberals believe No Labels is secretly working to siphon votes away from Biden and aim for Trump's re-election, the group's founders say their primary goal is to secure the former president's second term. It has been made clear that the aim is to prevent the candidate from winning the election. Mr. Jacobson, a self-described Democrat, said in July that No Labels would abandon the project if an internal poll revealed that a third-party bid would hand the election to Mr. Trump.
“All of our attorneys have said from the beginning that we're not going to offer a ballot if it's going to result in a vote being wasted,” she told NBC News.
Updated Nov. 17, 6:40 p.m.: This piece has been updated to add comment from No Labels.
