The Secretary of State’s Office announced Thursday that the Arizona Green Party is again a recognized political party in the state.
The Arizona Green Party turned in more than the 34,127 valid signatures needed to qualify as a political party in Arizona, meaning it can now appear on the ballot in upcoming federal, statewide and legislative elections.
There are now five officially recognized political parties in Arizona after the Green Party and No Labels earned recognition this year. They joined the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties.
Amee Beck-Jones, a U.S. delegate for the Arizona Green Party, said the Greens provide Arizona voters with alternatives to Republican and Democratic candidates.
“We’re really happy to bring another choice to Arizona on the ballot, so something to look forward to instead of the dreaded doom vote of 2024, there is another choice out there,” she said.
Beck-Jones said the party plans to field candidates in legislative districts across the state and is also exploring running a candidate in Arizona’s U.S. Senate race.
“We’re looking to recruit right now, partnering with other organizations that also would like to have a hand in sponsoring some favorable candidates, like DSA,” Beck-Jones said, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America.
Former Arizona Green Party party co-chair Liana West, who ran for governor as a write-in candidate in 2022, said she plans to run for governor again under the Green Party banner.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the party qualified too late to hold a presidential preference election in March but confirmed the party can run candidates in all federal general elections, including the presidential race.
Beck-Jones said the Arizona Green Party will support the presidential candidate selected by the national party.
Jill Stein, the Green Party’s candidate for president in 2016, announced in November that she will run again. Stein received 1.3% of the votes — about 34,000 — in Arizona in 2016.
The Green Party lost official recognition in Arizona in 2019. A write-in candidate representing the party in 2020, Howie Hawkins, received 1,557 votes in Arizona that year.
