Independent voter ranks increasing, but nonpartisan candidates still struggle

More voters in the state are shedding their party affiliations in favor of identifying themselves as independent, yet nonpartisan candidates are still having trouble gaining political traction.

Even though nearly one-third of all voters in the state are registered as independents, there are only five independent candidates on the ballot this election cycle.

Nearly all of the independent candidates complained that the election system is geared to benefit the two major parties, essentially putting independent candidates at a disadvantage. On top of that, the media pay little attention to independent candidates, they said.

The biggest problem, they said, is that they’re required by law to collect more signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

For nomination petitions, congressional partisan candidates are required to get signatures from one-half of 1 percent of the registered voters from their respective parties and districts. The minimum requirement for partisan legislative candidates is a full 1 percent of the registered voters from their respective parties and districts. But congressional and legislative nonpartisan candidates are required to get signatures from at least 3 percent of the registered independent voters in their district.

Gene Chewning, an independent candidate running for the House in Legislative District 27, had to obtain at least 686 signatures while Democrats in his district needed 393 and Republicans needed 157.

“It’s like being in a swim meet, and everyone else gets to swim in water and I have to swim in Jell-O,” Chewning said.

U.S. Senate write-in candidate Ian Gilyeat is running as an independent but didn’t gather enough signatures to qualify with the state and Federal Elections Commission for the general election ballot. He said the unequal signature requirements discourage strong candidates from running as independents.

“Independents don’t have an organization backing them,” Gilyeat said. “They have to build their own to gather signatures.”

Ted Downing, an independent candidate running for the Senate in Legislative District 28, said that once an independent candidate gets past the issue of gathering signatures, they run into the problem of campaign financing.

Partisan candidates are eligible to receive money from the Clean Elections system for their primary campaigns, but independents are not because they do not participate in a partisan primary. As a result, independents receive less money from Clean Elections for the primary and general elections combined.

“They’re telling you that you’re only going to get about 70 percent of what the partisans get, and that’s enough to discourage anyone from running,” Downing said.

Downing said that it’s also more difficult for independents to gain endorsements because many agencies, such as the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, choose to only endorse Republican or Democratic candidates.

Downing said it’s simply short-sighted to overlook independent candidates, considering the growing number of independent voters across the state. He said independents share similar cultural values, even if they are not affiliated within a party structure.

“Our culture here is based on independence,” he said. “People here want others to stay off there property and not touch their guns, and now people are registering to fit their culture.”

Arizona State University political science professor Bruce Merrill said more independent voters doesn’t necessarily mean more successful independent candidates in the future

“Even if more people are registering independent, they still tend to vote Democrat or Republican, and even more serious than that is they might not vote at all,” Merrill said.

When voters shed their party affiliation, he said, it’s usually because they feel disillusioned with the political system and tend not to participate in it.

Merrill said many candidates choose to go with a major party because that’s essentially their only shot at winning, whether it’s on a state or national level.

“The system is built on the belief that we wanted two strong parties instead of a lot of parties like in some European counties,” he said. “It’s not fair, but that’s the way it’s structured. It’s structured to be difficult for independent candidates.”

Here is a list of independent candidates on

2010 general election ballots:
• Gene Chewning — House, Legislative District 27
• Ted Downing — Senate, Legislative District 28
• Dave Ewoldt — Senate, Legislative District 28
• Harley Meyer — U.S. House, 7th Congressional District
• Les White — House, Legislative District 15