No Labels, centrist group with McCrory’s support, certified as NC political party
Following a contentious certification process, a new centrist political party backed by former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has been officially recognized in North Carolina.
At a meeting on Sunday, the State Board of Elections certified the party, which is called No Labels, in a 4-1 vote.
No Labels received almost 15,000 valid signatures from voters in its petition drive, nearly 1,000 more than are required to certify a new party.
“It’s a great day for democracy in the Tar Heel State,” Dennis Blair, No Labels Party of North Carolina chair, said in a statement. “The North Carolina Board of Elections chose to stand with voters to give the No Labels Party of North Carolina access to the ballot. I commend them for setting aside partisan politics to hear the voices of thousands of North Carolinians who support No Labels and who are part of America’s growing commonsense majority.”
Voters can now register with No Labels in addition to the Democratic, Republican, Green or Libertarian parties.
The certification also gives No Labels the opportunity to run candidates in upcoming elections under the new party, though no candidates have been announced yet.
No Labels describes itself as a “Commonsense” party, rejecting extremism on both sides of the aisle.
“We are Democrats, Republicans, and independents, with different political opinions,” according to the website for the national group tied to the state party. “Sometimes, we have serious disagreements over policies. But one thing we all share is a commitment to respect those differences, and to find areas of common ground so we can move the country forward.”
Questions posed about party’s role
The State Board of Elections delayed the party’s certification last month after board members raised questions about the petition drive, asking if voters had been sufficiently informed of the party’s purpose before signing on.
At the time, the party called the delay “... not simply a case of bureaucracy gone awry – it’s partisan activists protecting entrenched party interests through any kind of underhanded way they can.”
Before Sunday’s meeting, the board requested further information from No Labels regarding the party’s purpose and intent and its relationship to the national No Labels organization.
Board members noted that Nancy Jacobson, CEO of No Labels, said in an interview last month that No Labels would never run a third-party presidential ticket and said, “First of all, we’re not a party.” This was part of an interview with NBC News in which reporters asked why No Labels was not required to reveal its donors.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, who is representing No Labels North Carolina, said these comments were taken out of context and irrelevant to the board’s decision.
“None of this interview is at all relevant to whether legally sufficient petitions were filed with the State Board to qualify for ballot access in North Carolina,” Orr said in a letter to the board. “This interview debate about No Labels, Inc. filing federal disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission is a matter of federal campaign finance law and has nothing to do with the State Board’s proceedings.”
Board members repeated some of their concerns in their meeting on Sunday, but ended up certifying No Labels in a nearly unanimous vote. Siobhan Millen, a Democrat, was the only member to vote no.
It’s not the first time the board has been wary of approving a new party.
Last year, the board denied the North Carolina Green Party’s request for certification, citing concerns of fraud in the petitioning process. The Green Party sued and began a months-long clash with the board and the Democratic Party, which intervened in the process.
The board eventually reversed its original decision, granting certification to the Green Party in August of 2022.
This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 11:30 AM with the headline "No Labels, centrist group with McCrory’s support, certified as NC political party."
