Democrats and Republicans unite against Fontes for allowing a third party to change its name

Democrats and Republicans came together in court on Wednesday to attack Secretary of State Adrian Fontes for allowing a third party to change its name.

Arizona approved the creation of the “No Labels Party” in 2023, but, two years later a 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruling barred the party from only choosing candidates for high level offices.

In response to that ruling, the national No Labels Party ended its affiliation with the state party.

Now the state party is run by former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson and has renamed itself the Arizona Independent Party.

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More than 40,000 Arizonans are registered with the Arizona Independent Party. However, Democrats and Republicans claim Secretary of State Adrian Fontes shouldn’t have allowed the change.

One of the plaintiffs in the case is the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. Their attorney William Richards argued the name change will have a negative effect on voters who registered with the No Labels Party and who don’t know about the change until they show up to vote on election day.

“People are going to show up to vote, they're going to be told, ‘well you belong to this political party not the party you thought you belonged to,’” Richards said.

The commission, as well as Democrats and Republicans, said Fontes exceeded his authority and opened the doorway to voter confusion.

Fontes’ attorney said he would have overstepped by not allowing the name change.

“The secretary doesn't have the authority to reject filings. … The secretary's role here really is ministerial as the filing officer,” Fontes’ attorney Karen Hartman-Tellez said.

Both sides agreed there’s no law explicitly clarifying what the secretary of state is allowed to do in that situation.

“A political party isn’t a name, it is the people who are the members of the party, and they get to control what they’re called,” Hartman-Tellez said. “This isn’t a new political party. It’s the same people, and those people through party leadership have decided that they want the name to be different,” she said.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge George Como said in Wednesday's hearing that the Arizona Independent Party’s actions were “highly problematic."

Como said he’ll make a ruling within one week to ensure the issue is cleared up before elections.