The Arizona Attorney General’s Office told a judge that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had no choice but to approve the Arizona Independent Party’s controversial name change.
The claim was made in filings in Maricopa County Superior Court in a case brought by the Arizona Democratic Party challenging Fontes’ decision to approve former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson’s request to rename the No Labels Party in Arizona.
Shortly after taking over the party earlier this year, Johnson told KJZZ he planned to rename the party and make it a home for independent-minded candidates who felt put off by the two major parties.
Fontes’ office initially acknowledged there are no state laws specifically outlining how a party should go about changing its name, calling it a “novel” situation.
However, after consulting with its attorneys, the Secretary of State’s Office approved Johnson’s October request to rename No Labels in Arizona as the Arizona Independent Party, sparking lawsuits by the Arizona Democratic Party, Citizens Clean Elections Commission and Arizona Republican Party.
The lawsuits also point out that there are no laws specifically dealing with the situation and allege Fontes overstepped his authority, because the law does not explicitly give the secretary of state the power to approve such a request.
But, in a Dec. 24 filing in the Democratic Party’s case, the Attorney General’s Office, which is representing Fontes, argued he was compelled by the U.S. Constitution to approve the name change.
“The steps the Secretary has taken to recognize the No Labels Party’s change of name to the Arizona Independent Party were required because the Secretary must avoid interfering with a political party’s exercise of its rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments,” according to the filing by Assistant Attorney General Karen Hartman-Tellez.
The ongoing dispute could cause confusion for voters and election officials who are preparing for the upcoming 2026 election cycle, according to the Clean Elections Commission lawsuit.
The commission, the state’s voter education agency, pointed out that voters in Arizona who register with no political party affiliation are historically referred to as “independent” voters.
While the Secretary of State’s Office was working with county recorders on how to deal with that confusion, it held off on including any of those instructions in the official Elections Procedures Manual released earlier this month due to the ongoing litigation.
