Manchin on No Labels: ‘They need to take a hard look’ about whether they will be a spoiler

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said the centrist political group No Labels needs to seriously consider whether they will be a spoiler as the organization has spent months weighing a possible “unity” presidential ticket. 

The moderate senator praised the group as “his friends,” but cautioned against them putting out a “unity ticket” unless they have ballot access to all 50 states. 

“They need to take a hard look,” Manchin said about the ballot-access group founded in 2009 during his conversation Friday at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston, Mass. “And is it going to basically work as a spoiler.”

A spoiler refers to a non-winning candidate whose presence in the race influences which candidate wins.

Manchin argued the ticket’s potential presence in some current battleground states would do just that.

“Right now, if you can’t get on 50 states and you’re going to basically hit in some of the battleground states that could be very detrimental to what the outcome would be, yes,” Manchin said when asked if No Labels is “set up” as a “spoiler” currently.

The group currently achieved ballot access in 16 states. 

The West Virginia senator, who mulled his own potential 2024 run, was rumored to be among the top potential candidates for the organization. The centrist senator announced in mid-February that he would not run for president, effectively ending speculation about his potential insertion into the 2024 contest. 

He reiterated that point on Friday, saying he would “never” want to be a “spoiler.” 

No Labels’ options for constructing a potential ticket are waning, as former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the group’s former national co-chair, decided to run for Maryland’s Senate seat. Hogan stepped down from his post at No Labels in December and later endorsed Nikki Haley for president. 

Even with endorsing the former South Carolina governor, Hogan is still open to endorsing a potential unity ticket. 

“But down the road, I certainly would be open to considering whoever the candidates are,” Hogan told The Hill in a brief interview last Friday. 

No Labels said the group will make a decision next week on what their next steps are for the 2024 election. 

“No Labels has said for months that our movement plans to regroup shortly after Super Tuesday to evaluate the status of our 2024 project and that remains the plan,” Ryan Clancy, the group’s chief strategist, told The Hill. “On March 8th, we will gather our 800 delegates from all 50 states—who would ultimately approve a final Unity ticket—to discuss the path forward.”

He added, “This meeting is a chance for our delegates to speak freely and honestly about the path ahead for our 2024 project. Candidates will not be chosen for the Unity ticket during this meeting and it will not be open to the press.”