Arizona’s secretary of state is allowing a political party to change its name. Next election, you’ll see candidates on the ballot from the Arizona Independent Party.
The Arizona Independent Party is the new name of the No Labels Party, which was first officially recognized in 2023. The national No Labels Party is no longer affiliated with the Arizona party, which will now allow candidates to enter under their banner up and down the ballot.
Party Chair Paul Johnson said the new name represents the voters the party will get.
“That reflects who we see our voters being, which are independent and unaffiliated voters, which are now the single largest group of voters in the state, and this is to give them access to the ballot,” Johnson said.
In Arizona, candidates who run without a political party’s backing need to get several times as many signatures as other candidates to make it on the ballot.
Johnson’s group believes that’s unfair, and the Arizona Independent Party will allow those independent voters to avoid that signature hurdle.
“Our political system is on fire, and the two people out in front of the house who are supposed to be there to save us, they’re arguing about who lit the match,” Johnson said. “Our answer is we think that it's time to get back down to solving problems, and find a way to work across the aisle to do that. And that’s our mission.”
In August, the Arizona No Labels Party went through a leadership shakeup and is in the midst of rebranding itself.
There was some disagreement about whether the party should be allowed to shift its platform and its name. The Secretary of State’s Office said it sought legal advice before allowing the name change.
“The new party name is Arizona Independent Party, effective December 1, 2025. The SOS legal counsel was consulted and advised the scretary on this matter,” a spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office said in an email.
The rebranding comes after the Arizona No Labels Party lost a federal lawsuit. The party didn’t run candidates up and down the ballot in 2024 — the first year candidates could’ve run under the party label.
The court determined that the party leaders can’t prevent candidates from running with No Labels up and down the ballot.
Johnson sent over some of the other proposed names for the new party, which people sent in via a poll:
- The American Party
- Commonsense Party
- The Constitutionalists
- The Forward Party
- The Foundry
- The Liberty Party
- The Reform Party
- United Party
