Adrian Fontes, No Labels Party spar over candidates using party name. Here's the latest

No Labels has no right to prevent people from appearing on the ballot as candidates for the upstart political party, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said in response to a lawsuit from the group.

After it "explicitly stated" in nominating petitions that it would participate in Arizona's August primary election, Fontes said the party now wants to "break their promise."

Paperwork signed by more than 37,000 Arizona voters states in part that signers "hereby petition that a new political party become eligible for recognition, and be represented by an official party ballot at the next ensuing regular primary election," which is scheduled for Aug. 6.

"Breaking the trust of the voters is a bad look for any party," Fontes said. "This is our democracy, and no one - including a team of East Coast lawyers - tells Arizonans how we can participate legally in our elections."

The party filed a federal complaint against the state on Oct. 19, claiming that Fontes' position forces No Labels Arizona "to associate with and nominate candidates for elections in which it has no desire to participate."

The party's battle with Arizona comes as a report by the Democratic group Third Way warns of a "radical" strategy by No Labels that would "ensure" a Trump win in 2024. The group said in a Tuesday post the new party plans to nominate a moderate Republican and deny either Biden or Trump the 270 electoral votes they would need to win outright. That would cause the race to be decided by the state delegations within the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans currently have a 26-22 advantage.

Third Way spokeswoman Kate deGruyter said from the electoral vote plan to the attempt to control who gets access to No Labels' ballot line, the new party is "incredibly anti-democratic."

"They're the ones that want to get people kicked off the ballot," she said.

The new party countered its aim isn't to block candidates, but to skip the primary election entirely.

"This is about the No Labels Party of Arizona having legally and constitutionally protected autonomy to decide not to participate in an election at all," said Benjamin Chavis, Jr., No Labels National co-chair.

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Democrats clash with No Labels

Founded in 2010 as a centrist movement, No Labels last year launched its plan to introduce a 3rd-party candidate to a possible Biden-Trump matchup in 2024. The party qualified for the ballot in Arizona in March. Since then, at least 18,000 Arizonans have registered to vote under the party. Mississippi on Tuesday became the 12th state to approve the party for the ballot.

Arizona Democrats have been fighting to keep No Labels at bay, first filing a lawsuit challenging the party's petition signatures. A judge rejected the challenge, allowing the new party to remain on the 2024 ballot. That prompted the Democratic Party filed a 59-page complaint in July with the Secretary of State's Office that's still under review.

Two Arizonans filed statements of interest to run under the No Labels label over the summer: U.S. Senate candidate Tyson Draper and state Corporation Commission candidate Richard Grayson. The latter a progressive Democrat who previously told The Arizona Republic he's trying to undermine the new party.

Draper, a high school coach who runs a conservative news site, responded to a request for comment by The Arizona Republic by saying: "go f*** yourself."

Following the second candidate's filing in August, the Washington D.C.-based political party sent a letter to Fontes' office saying it "does not desire to have the names of candidates for any other office printed on the official general-election ballot at the 2024 general election."

Arizona Elections Director Colleen Connor last month responded that the state would keep accepting candidate statements of interest and nominating petitions "for any eligible voter who seeks to use No Labels' ballot line in the 2024 election."

No Labels then filed its lawsuit, represented by local law firm Osborn Maledon P.A. Fontes' statement refers to the party's East Coast counsel.

Grayson pointed out that if the party succeeds in banning unauthorized No Labels candidates, the people registered to vote under No Labels wouldn't get to participate in August's primary election at all.

Voters tired of the two-party system would be "better off registering as an independent," which would allow them to choose which party's ballot they want in the primary, he said.

No Labels seeks to duck campaign finance reporting

The No Labels suit argues state and federal laws grant it the right to decide whether to participate in primary elections or nominate candidates. Citing court precedent and the U.S. Constitution's right to assembly, the complaint states that the party's choices are "entirely private and internal to the party."

Parties that want candidates' names on the general election ballot for local and statewide races must nominate the candidates for the primary, according to state law. No Labels, which only wants its candidates for president and vice-president on the ballot, argues it can choose not to have a primary, thus controlling who can run under its banner.

No Labels did not respond directly to a question by The Arizona Republic about its nominating petitions' mention that the party would be represented in the primary election.

But other state laws don't seem to allow parties the type of control over candidates that No Labels seeks. Under Arizona statutes, a person who wants to run in a primary for a political party shall be a qualified elector of the party, and fill out the nominating paperwork no less than 120 days before the primary. Other laws detail how many signatures candidates need on nominating petitions to qualify to have their names on the ballot or what to do if they're running as a write-in candidate.

No law specifically requires a party's approval to run. Candidates often run as Republicans and Democrats without official party support or backing.

"The No Labels people clearly didn't do their homework before registering as a party in Arizona," said Jeff DeWit, chair of the state Republican Party.

In a June 2 letter to the state, No Labels explained that the strategy also means the party isn't subject to state laws requiring it to register under the state's campaign finance system. That would mandate the party to report its donations and expenditures.

The letter stated that because the organization has "at most supported mere generic party-building work related to federal offices," it has not knowingly made contributions or expenditures related to any election and is "therefore not subject" to reporting obligations.

Fontes' office declined to comment on the campaign finance question and the status of the Democratic party's July complaint.

Morgan Dick, spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, said No Labels is "not following the rules."

"Nobody should be exempt from the law, especially not an out-of-state dark-money group," she said.

Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Adrian Fontes says candidates can use No Labels tag in Arizona