Fred Upton: No Labels 'unity ticket' could beat Biden, Trump. But who will run?
- Former Michigan U.S. Rep Fred Upton seeks a ‘unity ticket’ to challenge President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump
- The No Labels group plans to compete in all 50 states, but organizers haven’t picked a presidential candidate yet
- Prominent Democrats fear the effort could benefit Trump
LANSING – With a potential rematch looming between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, former Michigan U.S. Rep. Fred Upton is helping recruit a “unity ticket” to give voters another option he argues is desperately needed.
“We’re laying the groundwork now to have an alternative ticket that can beat either one of these two guys,” Upton, a Republican, said of the effort by No Labels, an organization that has traditionally worked to support bipartisanship in Congress but is now focusing on the 2024 presidential campaign.
No Labels has already secured ballot access in at least a dozen states, and organizers say they intend to compete in all 50, including Michigan.
But first, they need candidates — for both president and vice president.
A national recruitment effort is underway but won’t be completed until March, according to Upton, who told Michigan reporters he would prefer a Republican presidential candidate with a Democratic running mate.
Upton's not interested in joining the ticket himself, he said, but he mentioned several potential GOP prospects, including former Utah Gov. John Huntsman and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
“I am of the belief that a Republican at the top of the ticket would draw more from Trump than if it was in reverse,” said Upton, R-St. Joseph, who voted to impeach the former president for instigating riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Several prominent Democrats fear the opposite: That a serious third-party presidential campaign would primarily siphon off moderate voters that Biden will need to win re-election.
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No Labels is “pushing a dangerous lie” that a third-party candidate could actually win, and the effort “would simply serve to put Trump back in the White House," Jim Messina, who ran then-President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, wrote this week in a POLITICO commentary.
A No Labels bid poses a particular threat in “Blue Wall” states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which Biden narrowly won in 2020, Messina wrote.
Trump narrowly won Michigan in 2016, while Biden carried the state by about 150,000 votes in 2020.
Upton acknowledged those concerns in a recent conference call with Michigan reporters but said he thinks it’s “too early to say” how a No Labels ticket might actually impact the presidential race.
“I’m not going to do anything to re-elect Donald Trump,” Upton said, suggesting he acted on “all the right reasons” when he voted to impeach Trump. “I’m not going to be part of an effort that’s gonna see that happen.”
Trump has dominated most public opinion surveys of the Republican primary field and appears well positioned for a general election match-up against Biden.
Two recent Michigan polls showed Trump leading Biden by 4 and 10 percentage points, respectively, with union voters and women holding increasingly negative views of the current Democratic president.
No Labels hasn’t yet sought ballot access in Michigan but will rely on the campaign of its presidential candidate – once named – to lead that effort next year, said former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, the group’s “ballot integrity” director.
“We're not here to be spoilers,” said Nixon said, who last week pitched the No Labels strategy in a Detroit Economic Club meeting.
“We're here to win.”
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