Arizona’s Democratic Party filed a lawsuit on Thursday aimed at eliminating the No Label Party from the state’s ballot amid Democratic fears that a well-funded, business-friendly centrist group could play a spoiler role in the 2024 presidential election.
The lawsuit alleges that Ora Label did not comply with political party requirements, including declaring donors and registering with the Federal Election Commission. The group is registered as a non-profit organization and does not disclose donors, although it says it has raised $45 million for its 2024 efforts.
Democrats across the ideological spectrum say the moderate No Labels ticket could pose a direct threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid by drawing a small but significant number of voters away from the president. The group advocates bipartisan cooperation, but its true ideology is vague and non-existent.
Arizona Democratic Party Executive Director Morgan Dick said that the lack of disclosure of Labels is not a problem and a reason for losing voting access.
“No Label does not follow the rules for the recognition of political parties, when trying to be placed on the ballot together with the correct political party,” said Dick. “That’s why the Arizona Democratic Party filed a lawsuit challenging the recognition of the political party. Arizonans deserve better and the voters need to know who is behind this shadow organization and what agenda they can pursue.
The Washington Post first reported the lawsuit, which also claimed the group violated state law by allowing the party’s proposed voters to sign an affidavit before No Label collected all the signatures needed to qualify.
Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, endorsed the No Label Party earlier this month. The group also qualified for elections in Colorado, Oregon and Alaska.
No Label asserts 2024 as a potential breakthrough year for third-party and moderate candidates, even though past efforts have failed and no third-party candidate has won the country at the presidential level in decades. The group’s proposed path to 270 electoral votes includes winning most of the states that Biden won four years ago.
The group’s presence in Arizona has an additional dimension. Democrats in the state believe Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) may choose to run on the No Labels voting line if she seeks reelection to the Senate. Doing so would drastically reduce the number of signatures needed to qualify for the election.