The bipartisan group No Labels filed a complaint against the Democratic Party alleging they’ve undergone an illegal conspiracy to use intimidation, harassment, and fear against members and potential political candidates.
Leaders of the organization are asking the Department of Justice to open a formal investigation into “whether the individuals engaging in the alleged conspiracy are subverting No Labels’ right to access the ballot in time for November’s general election,” Spectrum News reported.
“The right to obtain a ballot line is just as protected by the U.S. Constitution as the right to register to vote,” No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy said at a recent news conference. “But, powerful forces in Washington clearly don’t respect this right and have made it their mission to prevent No Labels access to the ballot by any means necessary.”
The group claims a co-founder of the organization was threatened by the anti-Trump, pro-Democratic group The Lincoln Project.
A representative from The Lincoln Project said they’d “never be able to work in Democratic politics again. You’re going to get it with both barrels” if they continued to promote a third party.
No Labels is not a political party, but it has floated the possibility of recruiting candidates to run on third parties.
Several other groups aligned with Democrats have aggressively criticized No Labels and are discouraging candidates and political operatives from working with the group, warning a third-party candidate can’t win but would help Trump return to the White House.
“The alleged conspiracy to stop No Labels is a brazen voter suppression effort,” Benjamin Chavis Jr., a former head of the NAACP and a co-chair of No Labels, said during the news conference.
The letter cites an array of events, most of them common political tactics or governmental decisions. A mobile billboard with a picture of Trump alongside photos of No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson and her husband, Mark Penn, drove through their Georgetown neighborhood.
The Arizona Democratic Party filed an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging No Labels ballot access in the battleground state. The Maine secretary of state sent a letter to members of the new No Labels party telling them how they could change parties. A letter from the liberal group MoveOn asked other secretaries of state to investigate the group. And various critics have held meetings to discourage lawmakers, donors, candidates, political operatives and others from working with No Labels.
“This is a desperate attempt to salvage their failing campaign and keep their fleeing supporters who have finally seen through their facade,” the Lincoln Project, one of the groups targeted in the letter, said in a statement.
No Labels, which has refused to disclose its donors, has qualified for the ballot in 14 states, including the battlegrounds of Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina, and is working in more than a dozen others. It plans to offer its ballot line to a “bipartisan unity ticket” as an alternative to Trump and Biden if they remain the front-runners to win their parties’ nomination, saying Americans are crying out for another option.
Meanwhile, the group continues to search for its 2024 presidential candidate — and an unlikely Republican candidate has quietly become a favorite.
A top No Labels leader said Thursday that Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley “would deserve serious consideration” for the group’s nomination if it decides to run a third-party presidential candidate.
Joe Lieberman, a former Connecticut senator and co-chair of No Labels, said Haley’s record as governor of South Carolina and U.N. ambassador would be a good fit for the group’s plan to find a candidate in the likely event that the 2024 election becomes a rematch between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump.
“I think I’m speaking for a lot of No Labels members. Gov. Haley would deserve serious consideration,” Lieberman said. “But that’s a decision for her to make, and it’s not an easy one. So we’ll have to wait and see.”
Haley’s team said she wasn’t interested in the offer.
“Nikki has no interest in No Labels, she’s happy with the Republican label,” said Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas.
Haley came in third in the Iowa caucuses and is banking on a strong showing in New Hampshire’s open primary next week to give her a path to surpass Trump, the overwhelming front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Lieberman last week said he’d like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently ended his own GOP presidential campaign, to consider running on the No Labels ticket, calling him “the kind of candidate No Labels is looking for.”
Meanwhile, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan quit his role as a No Labels co-chair in a move that prompted speculation he was preparing for a possible presidential campaign in the No Labels ticket.
He later sought to squelch that speculation, endorsing Haley for Republican nominee.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article