Key Points:

• Former Democratic state lawmaker Leezah Sun runs for governor as an independent

• Sun resigned after House ethics investigation found her guilty of disorderly conduct

• Sun needs over 46,000 signatures to qualify for the election ballot

A one-term Democratic state lawmaker who was elected in 2022 and quit in the wake of a House investigation now says she’s running for governor as an independent.

In a video announcement posted on Instagram, Leezah Sun made no direct reference to the actions that led the Ethics Committee in early 2024 to find her guilty of “disorderly conduct.” The bipartisan panel detailed a list of offenses, ranging from using her position to influence the outcome of a child custody dispute to threatening to throw a lobbyist for the city of Tolleson off a second-floor balcony.

The panel made no recommendation on the appropriate punishment, which could have ranged from censure to expulsion, leaving that to the full House.

It didn’t get that far. Sun, who represented Tolleson, Goodyear and Avondale, resigned instead.

Later that year she was elected to the Tolleson Union High School District governing board. She later became president but was ousted from that position after violating a restraining order related to death threats.

She remains on the board—and also on probation.

But Sun, in her video, said all her problems were due to her speaking out against politicians who accepted political donations from utility and insurance companies.

“And politicians from both parties protected the corporations funding their campaign,” Sun said, saying she refused to stay quiet and instead challenged corporate power.

“And that made me unpopular with political insiders who expected loyalty instead of accountability,” she said. “I was pushed out for refusing to fall in line.”

Sun did not respond to repeated messages seeking further information.

This isn’t Sun’s first bid to get back into power.

In 2024, she ran as a Democrat for the state Senate. But she was defeated in the primary by Eva Diaz who later went on to win the general election.

By denouncing Democrats and Republicans, Sun seeks to position herself as someone not beholden to either party.

As a political independent, Sun would need more than 46,000 signatures of registered voters on petitions to qualify for the general election ballot. But if she can get those, that could present problems for incumbent Katie Hobbs who already faces a tough re-election campaign.

Despite Sun’s 2024 loss, she clearly has some following in the Democratic Party. She also is playing into the fact that she is an immigrant.

“I came to the United States when I was about 7 years old, born in South Korea of Chinese descent, the daughter of two brilliant parents who gave up everything they had built so their children could have a chance in America,” she said in her video.

Her complaints about utility and insurance companies and their charges could find some sympathetic followers.

And while an independent candidacy is a long shot at best – no one has won statewide office in Arizona who is outside the two-party system – she could take needed votes from the governor who edged out Kari Lake, her Republican opponent, by a margin of just 17,117 votes.

Hobbs’ 2026 GOP foe will be whoever survives the three-way primary among Congressmen Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, and Karrin Taylor Robson, a business owner and lobbyist.