By Jarrett Renshaw
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The centrist group No Labels is expected to announce on Friday it will move forward with a presidential bid for November’s U.S. election, but will stop short of naming candidates, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Friday marks the beginning of the most critical stretch for the centrist group since it announced its shift from Washington bipartisan cheerleader to a presidential party hoping to seize on America’s dissatisfaction with the likely nominees from the nation’s two major political parties.
The presidential race narrowed this week, after Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Dean Phillips ended their respective bids, following nominating contests in 15 states. Democratic President Joe Biden is expected on Thursday during his State of the Union address to sharpen distinctions between himself and his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump.
No Labels will not name its presidential and vice presidential picks on Friday, when roughly 800 delegates meet virtually in a private meeting. Instead, the group is expected to roll out a formal selection process next week for potential candidates who would be selected in the coming weeks, the sources said.
No Labels did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The group initially planned to hold an in-person convention in March where potential candidates were expected to convince delegates to nominate them to the ticket. But the plan was scrapped after leaders questioned the cost and whether a candidate would want to risk being the subject of public humiliation if defeated, according to multiple interviews with party officials.
By the end of 2023, the group had promised to detail how it would nominate a presidential ticket, including the number of nominating delegates and how they would be selected, but no plan has yet to be released. One idea to require people to donate $100 to the party to become delegates was scrapped as a bad idea, officials tell Reuters.
In the past months, No Labels staff has been vetting potential delegates to root out any potential saboteurs who support either Biden or Trump and who want to disrupt their efforts. The effort underscores the tightrope the group is trying to walk by hoping to make it a grassroots movement while allowing the leaders to maintain some control.
(Reporting by Jarrett RenshawEditing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)
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