No Labels won’t run a third-party campaign after spending millions trying to recruit a candidate

The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization were unable to attract a candidate willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

“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,” Nancy Jacobson, the group’s CEO, said in a statement. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”

The decision caps months of discussions for No Labels, which has raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. While its decision will disappoint people seeking a potentially viable third-party option, it will come as a relief to Democrats who long accused the group of effectively helping Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.