The centrist group No Labels raised a staggering $21.2 million last year, compared to $11.3 million the previous one, and aims to be an active influence on the 2024 race — but tax filings show much of it is going to massive salaries for its leadership team.
No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson didn't receive a salary in 2021, according to the 990 tax form from that year, but the group's latest federal tax form shows she made $300,000 last year, while disgraced political journalist turned No Labels chief strategist Mark Halperin got a nearly $100,000 raise to bring his salary to $336,879 in 2022, reported The Daily Beast.
“This 990 shows a striking jump in revenue for No Labels last year, and with it, substantial raises for No Labels officials,” said Brendan Fischer, deputy director of the watchdog group Documented.
Co-executive directors Margaret White and Elizabeth Morrison took home $315,440 and $203,975, respectively, last year, while vice president of development Megan Shannon made $160,833 and deputy director McKinley Scholtz made $134,723.
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"All told, No Labels’ top six officials pulled in $1.5 million in salary — averaging just over $240,000 per person — amounting to about half what the group spent on efforts for its candidate to qualify for the ballot next year," The Daily Beast reported.
The filing does not include payments to strategist Ryan Clancy, whose firm was paid $300,000 by No Labels in 2021, but a spokesperson for the group said IRS filings were later amended to include payments to him, and blamed a clerical error for the oversight.
No Labels has been increasingly acting like a political party, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) rumored to be its 2024 presidential candidate, but it's still classified as a nonprofit organization, so it doesn't have to disclose donors or share detailed information about its spending — unlike traditional campaigns.
But its big salaries for executives and opaque finances don't inspire much confidence in getting its favored candidates elected, the Beast noted.
