The No Labels Party has won access to Maine’s ballot.
That is the culmination of a monthslong process for the third party and means it could run an alternative candidate to Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump this November. Both Biden and Trump remain the frontrunners for their party’s nominations for president.
No Labels needed to enroll at least 5,000 voters to be certified as a “qualified party,” and as of Jan. 2, 9,423 Mainers were enrolled, the Maine secretary of state’s office said Friday.
No Labels can now hold a primary election on June 11 and have access to the ballot for the November general election.
No Labels found itself at the center of controversy last spring, when Secretary of State Shenna Bellows sent a cease-and-desist letter to the party over allegations of misleading tactics to get Mainers to enroll. Letters were sent to more than 6,000 Mainers who registered with No Labels to ensure they had intended to join the party.
In August, No Labels ran advertisements criticizing Bellows for “trying to suppress the No Labels movement.”
The party has caused concern among Democrats because of past support from conservative megadonors like Harlan Crow and that a No Labels presidential candidate could peel off votes from Biden and give Trump an edge to regain the White House.
Some rumored candidates for a No Labels ticket have included Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, but no firm slate has emerged. This week Joe Lieberman, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Connecticut and a founder of No Labels, told NBC News that the party could abandon entering the presidential race if it can’t get “top-tier candidates.” He said that the party could announce nominations in March or April.
No Labels now has ballot access in more than a dozen states.
Two other groups that began the process of applying for official party status in Maine — the Forward Party and the People’s Party — failed to meet the Jan. 2 deadline to become a qualified party, according to the Maine secretary of state’s office.