Chris Christie in No Labels’s sights as third-party homes in on election plans: Report

Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie might be on a short list for No Labels, which is seeking to establish a bipartisan, third-party ticket ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

Christie, previously undeterred by recommendations to drop out of the race for the Republican primary, withdrew his candidacy Wednesday. NBC News reported that three unnamed sources have since claimed No Labels reached out to the former governor through his allies and donors, though Christie’s campaign manager, Maria Comella, told NBC he was not involved in these conversations.   

“Neither the governor nor anyone on the campaign has had conversations with No Labels,” Comella said. However, Comella added that Christie was “not going away.” 

On Thursday, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and co-chair of No Labels said Christie should consider running on the third-party ticket, saying he was “No Labels material,” the Hill reported.  

“Look, earlier in the year when he was asked about No Labels, he basically said it was not an effort that had any chance of succeeding, but maybe the world will look different to him now,” Lieberman said in a SiriusXM interview.

A No Labels spokesperson told NBC the organization is not currently pursuing candidates but is focusing on meeting requirements to make sure a candidate can appear on a ballot if it chooses to select a candidate. 

Christie has criticized the political organization in the past, calling it a “fool’s errand,” with other critics saying it could draw votes away from other prominent candidates such as President Joe Biden.

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“None of us want to be spoilers here, and to be more explicit, most of us at No Labels certainly don’t want to be spoilers who help reelect Donald Trump, because as much as we are focused on restoring bipartisanship, national interest, et cetera, to our government, you know, Trump represents a whole series of separate challenges, threats to our government beyond too much partisanship,” Lieberman said.

The centrist group recently qualified for Maine’s ballot and expressed to NBC that having a Republican presidential nominee with an independent or Democratic vice president would be something the organization is interested in. A Super PAC called New Leaders 2024 has been created in an effort to help the ticket succeed.

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