Arizona bill aims to prevent new parties from using 'independent' in their name

PHOENIX - A political fight is brewing in Arizona, but this time, it's not between Democrats and Republicans.

The two parties, this time, actually agree on one thing, and it’s preventing independents from organizing under a new name.

Big picture view:

In 2023, the No Labels Party formed, and in 2025, they decided to change their name to the "Arizona Independent Party."

Since Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes signed off on the name change, there have been three separate lawsuits challenging the party's existence from the Arizona Republicans, Arizona Democrats, and the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

And now, Republican State Sen. TJ Shope has filed SB1609.

Dig deeper:

According to a factsheet published by the Arizona State Senate's research arm, the bill has provisions which "prohibits a new political party from using certain terms or phrases in its party name, including independent, no party, no preference, unaffiliated, party not designated, decline to state or any similar variations."

The bill also contains an emergency provision, which means it takes effect if and when Governor Katie Hobbs signs the bill.

"I knew when I ran as an independent that it was going to be hard. The parties are going to come after you and they’re going to do things. But this is actually absurd," said candidate for governor Hugh Lytle.

By the numbers:

Right now, around 35% of Arizona residents identify as independent. To win an election, they would need to pull voters away from Democrats and Republicans. While the other parties don’t want that, independents want ballot access. Establishing a party means independent candidates would only need to collect 20,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and not the 140,000 required without one.

"Before we started this, before this party came about, you had to have 6,000 signatures to run as a Democrat, 6,000 as a Republican. You had to have 45,000 signatures to run as an independent. That wasn’t an accident. It was done on purpose – to keep out what is now the largest group of voters – independent voters," said Arizona Independent Party Chairman Paul Johnson. "And why do they want to keep them out? Because they want to protect the duopoly, the monopoly. They want to stop real competition."

What they're saying:

For some, the argument is that unaffiliated voters want to stay unaffiliated, but come the next election, they may be confused by the name "Arizona Independent Party."

State Sen. Shope has voiced his opinion on the bill.

"People also just write into the line Independent because they don’t wish to be a part of either party, which is part of our voter history in this state for decades. It’s not anything that we’re trying to change," said Shope. "Now those people, who write in independent, who have eschewed both parties, are about to be swallowed up by this organization – which is not independent. It is an actual political party."

Chuck Coughlin disagrees.

"People aren’t going to be confused. You know as an independent voter, you’re either an independent voter or you’re going to join a party. I can join the Arizona Independent Party," said Chuck Coughlin, who is the president of HighGround, Inc. "Both parties don’t want this to happen, because they don’t want any competition, so they don’t want this to be successful."

What's next:

With Democrats and Republicans in agreement about the Arizona Independent Party, SB 1609 has a good chance of passing. And with Gov. Hobbs looking to keep as much Democrat and independent support in her race against Republican Andy Biggs, she most likely will sign it into law.

If that happens, it will be up to the independents to take their fight to court.