Arizona Republic publishes letter by Richard Grayson, "No Labels or Arizona Independent Party − it’s all branding"

Today, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, the Arizona Republic published a letter by Richard Grayson, "No Labels or Arizona Independent Party − it’s all branding":

Senate Bill 1609 would require the Arizona Independent Party to revert to its previous name, the No Labels Party — the name under which thousands of Arizonans signed a 2023 petition to establish it. That is the practical effect of this bill.The measure does not remove the party from the ballot. It does not raise signature requirements. It does not prevent anyone from registering with the party or running under its banner. Candidates affiliated with it will still face far lower signature thresholds than candidates who run as true independents and bypass party primaries altogether. An unopposed write-in candidate can still win a party nomination with only a plurality of votes.

As a candidate who ran under the No Labels banner, I can attest that the party's ballot access advantages existed before the name change and will remain after it.

Renaming the party “Independent” did not create independence, and restoring the original name will not diminish it. What changes here is branding — not democracy.

Richard Grayson, Apache Junction

Arizona Daily Star publishes letter by Richard Grayson on Arizona Independent/No Labels Party

Today, Friday, February 20, 2026, the Arizona Daily Star published a letter by Richard Grayson titled "Independent" on page A13.

Article in Independent Political Report on Arizona Independent Party Gubernatorial Primary Mentions Richard Grayson

Today, Friday, February 6, 2026, an article by Jordan Willow Evans, "Arizona Independent Party Chair Endorses Candidate in Contested Gubernatorial Primary," mentions Richard Grayson:

The decision to back Lytle has also drawn criticism from Richard Grayson, a longtime independent candidate who was involved with the organization when it operated as the state’s No Labels affiliate and who appeared on the 2025 special election ballot for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District under its then-No Labels line. Grayson has argued that the party should provide equal access and coverage to all candidates, regardless of their qualifications.

In a January 26 opinion for Independent Newsmedia, Grayson, who has since been identified by local media as running for Arizona’s 5th Congressional District this year as a member of the Green Party, argued that the Arizona Independent Party was originally formed to offer voters an alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties, referencing Johnson’s own remarks that equal ballot access is a core part of the party’s mission. He defended Hourihan, writing that she has actively campaigned across Arizona for months and has received notable grassroots support and community media coverage prior to Lytle’s entrance.

“The issue here is not the merits of either candidate,” Grayson wrote. “It is about process and fairness. Independent voters are drawn to the AIP because they expect a bottom-up party, not one shaped by insider preferences or uneven visibility.”

Grayson contended that Lytle’s entrance into the race and subsequent media coverage has steered public opinion and led readers to have an incomplete understanding of the primary. He noted that other political parties in Arizona are holding competitive primaries and said the AIP should meet that same democratic standard, cautioning that “voters, not party leaders or headlines, should decide.”

Scottsdale Independent publishes column by Richard Grayson, "Arizona Independent Party candidates deserve equal access, coverage"

Today, Friday, December 12, 2025, the Scottsdale Independent published a column by Richard Grayson, "Arizona Independent Party candidates deserve equal access, coverage":

Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent publishes column by Richard Grayson, "No Labels Party candidate says no to name change"

Today, Friday, December 12, 2025, the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent published a column by Richard Grayson, "No Labels Party candidate says no to name change":

OPINION — As the No Labels Party candidate in the September special election in the 7th Congressional District, I object to the party’s name change, which was rammed through without procedural due process for the associational rights of the party’s over 40,000 members without any notice or public hearing.

As its website makes clear, Paul Johnson’s Arizona Independent Party has different views and is a different party from the No Labels Party that existed before he allegedly took control in some deal between himself and the national No Labels organization.

My objections are different from those who decry the confusion the Arizona Independent Party causes with true independent voters, but the prospects for confusion are rife.

Richard Winger’s letter is correct insofar as there was once an American Independent Party, but the situation in 1968 was very different.

The AIP was a creature of George Wallace’s pro-segregation, far-right candidacy for president. The only Arizona AIP candidates who ever got on the ballot were a 1970 congressional candidate, the party’s Wallaceite leader Clifford Thomallo, who accused every U.S. president since 1933 of being under the influence of Communists, and 1972 candidate for state representative, Lawrence Oliver, another far-right party member. So the AIP was clearly an ideological party.

Another difference between now and then: In 1976, only 7% of voters in Arizona were true independents, a far cry from today's 34%, so the possibility of confusion is now much greater — especially when the Arizona Independent Party says it is specifically targeting voters not registered with any party (true independents) and planning to be a home for “independent” candidates.

The state must keep the No Labels Party as the No Labels Party. Paul Johnson can get signatures to make his party a new party in the 2026 elections.

 

Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com publishes letter by Richard Grayson, "When the state chooses your party"

Today, Tuesday, December 9, 2025, the Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com published a letter, "When the state chooses your party," by Richard Grayson:

In Communist East Germany, the government simply assigned people to political parties. It was a quiet but powerful way to control political life: the state decided who you were.

Arizona shouldn’t be doing anything that even faintly resembles that history. Yet Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has said he will automatically reassign nearly 47,000 No Labels voters to the Arizona Independent Party becauses of the wishes of a new party chairman, without any formal input from those who chose to register with the No Labels Party. Fontes's office says people who don't like it can “just change it back.” But political identity is a fundamental right, not a clerical detail. Forcing voters into a party whose beliefs they may not share undermines voluntary political association.

No democracy should ever let the government choose a citizen’s party for them.

Richard Grayson

Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com article on Clean Elections Commission's lawsuit against the No Labels Party's name change mentions Richard Grayson

Today, Friday, November 28, 2025, The Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com published an article by Howard Fischer, "Arizona commission will sue to block political party's name change." 

The article began: 

Ignoring threats of being sued themselves, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted Friday to go to court to block the No Labels Party from rebranding itself as the Arizona Independent Party. The panel voted 4-1 to challenge the decision last month by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to permit the name change.

Towards the end of the article, Richard Grayson's name came up:

There are about 47,000 people who signed up with the No Labels Party. Fontes' move appears to now automatically change their registration to the Arizona Independent Party.

That drew a complaint from Richard Grayson, a member of the No Labels Party who ran unsuccessfully as its nominee earlier this year in the special election in Congressional District 7.

He argued that the Arizona Independent Party is not simply a home for those who don't align with the major parties. Instead, he said, it has a belief system of its own.

He cited the party's web page, which lists among its beliefs that the U.S. military is "strongest in the world,'' that the party supports "strong borders and a workable immigration system,'' and an "all-of-the-above energy strategy'' including oil, gas, nuclear and renewables.

"So it's not an independent party,'' Grayson said. "They have an ideology."