Former ASU QB outraged at bill that would ban his party’s name

PHOENIX – Arizona Independent Hugh Lytle is frustrated with the two party system’s gatekeeping of new political parties. On Tuesday, he held a press conference challenging a bill he said would limit political party options at a time when more Americans are registering as independent – and derail his own campaign for governor.

Paul Johnson, a former Phoenix mayor and Democrat-turned independent, and Tomás León, Lytle’s Hispanic outreach coordinator, stood beside Lytle echoing his concerns that the legislation could stifle voters looking for alternatives to the Republican and Democrats. 

They’re criticizing SB 1609, a Republican-sponsored bill that would restrict party names. 

Specifically, the bill says, new parties “may not contain the word or phrase ‘unaffiliated’, ‘party not designated’, ‘no party’, ‘no preference’, ‘independent’ or ‘decline to state’ or any variation of those words or phrases.” 

Simply put: if passed, the Arizona Independent Party could not use the word “independent” in its name. 

“I think that every single citizen, whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent or unaffiliated, should be very, very concerned about this type of legislative behavior,” Lytle said. “We’re not allowed to use the independent name in our Arizona Independent Party, even though it’s already approved by the Secretary of State.”

The Arizona Independent Party was formerly the No Labels Party until December 2025. Johnson, the chairman of the Independent Party, changed the name last year. Lytle and Johnson said that if passed, the new bill could stifle Lytle’s campaign as it can be applied retroactively from Dec. 31, 2024 onward. 

“We know independent voters are conservative and liberal, and they’re independent in between, but something’s happened for them to say that they no longer want to be a part of the two political parties, they want to be known as independents,” Johnson said.

The proposed legislation includes an “emergency measure,” which means it would take effect immediately if signed into law. 

“They are declaring it as an emergency measure, which generally means public peace, safety and health,” Lytle said. ”Does the name of a party really meet that criteria or is this just a political stunt?”

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge), did not respond to requests for comment, but in the bill wrote that the naming restrictions are meant to reduce voter confusion. The Arizona Clean Elections Commission previously criticized the name change, also arguing it could lead to voter confusion. 

As of 2025, Gallup reports that 45% of the voters in the United States are registered as politically independent. In Arizona, more than 35 percent of voters are not affiliated with either the Democrat or Republican parties. 

The Secretary of State’s office voter registration data shows that 1.5 million Arizonans are registered as “other,” and just 0.96% of Arizona’s voters are registered “Independent.” 

The Secretary of State’s office did not respond to requests for comment on this story. 

 León said that young Hispanic voters are wanting to leave the two party system.

“They are not walking away from democracy,” León said. “They are walking away from a system that tells them they must choose two labels that don’t fully represent who they are.”

Lytle announced his run for governor in January, outside Mountain America Stadium, where the Sun Devils play football. The former Sun Devil quarterback has not reported any fundraising to the Secretary of State’s office so far. He is also the founder of Equality Health, and said among his eight priorities, he would focus on housing affordability, AI-focused higher education, healthcare cost reduction and public school reform.

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