The presidential race will look a lot different in two weeks. An independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced Wednesday that he will be introducing his running mate at a campaign event at Oakland on March 26.

The Kennedy campaign will not disclose who this candidate is, but it did confirm this week that an NFL quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, and a former professional wrestler and Minnesota governor, Jesse Ventura, are at the top of the vice presidential list. As a third-party candidate, Mr. Kennedy needs to announce his running mate earlier than the two major parties in order to secure ballot access in 23 states.

Mr. Kennedy has so far secured ballot access only in Utah and New Hampshire, and says he has collected enough signatures to obtain ballot access in Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia. The campaign says it is on track to get access in all 50 states, but the slow pace has fueled speculation that Mr. Kennedy may seek the Libertarian Party’s nomination at its convention in May. 

Mr. Kennedy’s announcement Wednesday that he has chosen his vice president may set that speculation to rest — or, at a minimum, indicate that the Libertarian ticket is an option of last resort. The Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee does not choose its own vice president — the party votes on it at the convention. Mr. Kennedy could not be assured he would retain his vice-presidential pick if he were to make a bid for the Libertarian nomination.

“There have been multiple times where somebody has gone into convention with a running mate,” the chairman of the Libertarian Party’s Classical Liberal Caucus, Jonathan Casey, tells the Sun. “The bigger indication is going to be who he chooses.”

The Libertarian Party’s 2016 presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, a two-term governor of New Mexico, brought a former Massachusetts governor, Bill Weld, with him when he sought the Libertarian nomination. While Mr. Weld was “not a first pick of delegates,” according to Mr. Casey, he did end up winning the vice-presidential nod.

“He was eventually selected after quite a bit of backdoor meetings,” Mr. Casey says. “It’s no guarantee.”

Mr. Ventura has experience winning as a third-party candidate and running a state. Mr. Rodgers is best known for his football plays, vaccine skepticism, and use of psychedelics. Mediaite is reporting that some of Mr. Kennedy’s donors are threatening to withdraw support if he chooses Mr. Rodgers.  

Another third-party disrupter, No Labels, plans to announce its presidential nominating committee Thursday. No Labels says it expects to announce its presidential and vice-presidential picks in early April.

No Labels has kept its cards close to the vest and will not say which candidates it is considering. The group’s more than 800 delegates met virtually on Friday and voted to move forward with a presidential “unity” ticket. A delegate who spoke to the Sun on the condition of anonymity says only one person in the virtual meeting voted not to move forward with a ticket.

“Now that No Labels’ delegates have given the go-ahead for us to accelerate our candidate search for a Unity ticket, voters will read plenty of speculation about who would be on it,” the No Labels chief strategist, Ryan Clancy, said in a statement. “But No Labels has not yet chosen a ticket and any names floating around are being put out there by someone else.”

A former Georgia lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, who is a telegenic anti-Trump Republican, is one name recently floated. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Senator Sinema, Senator Manchin, and Governor Hogan have all declined to run on a No Labels ticket.

Mr. Clancy told the Sun in January that the group’s polling showing a path to victory for a third-party centrist candidate was done with a generic moderate Republican at the top of the ticket and a moderate Democrat in the vice presidential slot. Mr. Lieberman told the Washington Post that the group plans to choose a conservative or moderate Republican for the top of the ticket so as not to pull more votes from President Biden than President Trump.

The No Labels delegate who spoke to the Sun says she has no idea who the party is considering. Names of politicians, military leaders, and businessmen have been floated in the group’s meetings. Delegates will be given short notice before being called to convene and vote on their nominee.