Joe Manchin and Jon Huntsman to headline No Labels town hall (original) (raw)
Sen. Joe Manchin and former Gov. Jon Huntsman.Getty Images
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican, will headline a No Labels event next week as the group weighs backing a third-party presidential bid in 2024.
Manchin, who is up for re-election to the Senate next year, has not ruled out running for president as part of the No Labels ticket. Manchin and Huntsman, who are both No Labels co-chairs, will be participating in a Monday town hall event in New Hampshire to unveil the group's "Common Sense" policy agenda.
The group is spending tens of millions of dollars to get on the ballot as a new political party in all 50 states next year, though it has not committed to following through with the plan.
“It is clear that most Americans are exceedingly frustrated by the growing divide in our political parties and toxic political rhetoric from our elected leaders,” Manchin said in a statement. “Our political discourse is lacking engaged debates around common sense solutions to solve the pressing issues facing our nation. I am looking forward to modeling this type of conversation with my good friend, Gov. Huntsman, and the No Labels community."
No Labels has said it will back a third-party presidential campaign if it's clear Americans are not satisfied with the major parties' presidential candidates. But Dr. Ben Chavis, one of the Democratic co-chairs, recently told NBC News that the group "is not and will not be a spoiler in favor of Donald Trump in 2024."
But recent polling has showed that a third-party bid could pull more votes from President Joe Biden. A recent NBC News national survey found more Democrats than Republicans saying they are open to a third-party bid, including multiple groups that make up the Democratic base.
Democrats have been raising concerns about a No Labels presidential bid and believe a third-party campaign would hurt Biden's re-election. Biden defeated Trump in 2020 in part because a smaller share of voters supported third-party candidates than in 2016, when Trump won his first term — and more of those third-party 2016 voters backed Biden than Trump in 2020, according to exit polls.
Bridget Bowman is a national political reporter for NBC News.