NEW YORK — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said Friday that he is not running for president, according to his spokesman Jonathan Kott.
Manchin announced his decision in a speech at West Virginia University, as part of a national listening tour he was making.
“I will not be seeking a third-party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run,” he said in his speech in Morgantown.
The centrist Democrat who often bucked his party’s leadership had been considering a run for the presidency and had said he thought it would be clear by March if there was a path for a third-party candidate this year.
His decision comes as the leadership of No Labels, a national political movement that could offer an independent presidential ticket in 2024, has worked privately to identify serious candidates to represent the group in the general election. Manchin was viewed as one of the top prospects.
Manchin is not running for reelection in 2024. His Senate seat in a heavily Republican state is expected to be a prime pickup opportunity for the GOP.
In addition to the No Labels effort, a group pushing for Manchin to partner with retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney to seek a third-party presidential bid filed paperwork last year to form a draft committee with the Federal Election Commission. Romney and Manchin did not sign on to the effort.
After Manchin announced last year that he would not run for reelection, he said he planned to travel the country “to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
He visited New Hampshire, an early voting state in the presidential primaries, in January. The senator is scheduled to speak in Arizona, a political battleground state, on Saturday.
After Manchin’s announcement, No Labels issued a statement saying the organization welcomed the senator’s efforts to strengthen “America’s commonsense majority.”
“No Labels is currently speaking with several exceptional leaders about serving on the presidential Unity ticket. We are continuing to make great progress on our ballot access efforts and will announce in the coming weeks whether we will offer our line to a Unity ticket,” said the co-chairs of No Labels, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, former head of the NAACP Benjamin Chavis, Jr., and former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory.
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips said last month that he would consider running on a No Labels ticket, though he is still challenging Biden in the Democratic primary ahead of the party’s primary in Michigan.
Another leading No Labels prospect, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, last week ruled out a 2024 presidential bid as well, announcing a Senate bid instead.
Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
