IN FOCUS - Jan. 30, 2026

It took only five weeks, but the newly minted Arizona Independent Party has its first entrant in what’s already a crowded field for Governor this year.

Arizona health care executive Hugh Lytle joined the race Tuesday, vowing to “bridge the partisan divide.” He accused the Democratic and Republican parties of being “trapped in a fight that never ends. They argue, they posture, they divide, but they don’t solve big problems.”

Lytle joins a long list of challengers to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, including GOP headliners Karrin Taylor Robson and Congressmen Andy Biggs and David Schweikert.

Formerly known as the No Labels Party, the Arizona Independent Party is a rebrand that both the Arizona Republican and Democratic parties - as well as the Arizona Clean Elections Commission - have filed suit to block. There are only a little over 40,000 registered No Labels voters, but unaffiliated/independent voters total nearly 1.5 million statewide - more than ⅓ of the electorate. If even a small fraction of them are lured by the appeal of an “Independent” candidate, that may be determinative in what is likely to be a tightly-contested General Election.

While Lytle’s odds of victory are long, to put it mildly, politicos are watching his candidacy closely to gauge which sorts of voters he is more likely to attract. Meanwhile, the legal wrangling will continue as groups ask a judge to bar Secretary of State Adrian Fontes from allowing the Arizona Independent Party rebrand to proceed.