The Arizona Green Party is concerned with possible meddling by the two main political parties in their Senate primary for the pivotal race that could decide if Republicans or Democrats control the chamber next Congress.
Arizona Green Party co-chair Cody Hannah told the Washington Post he is worried that the two people on the party’s Senate primary ballot are being pushed by one of the two major parties to act as a spoiler for the other — as opposed to running for the Green Party.
Hannah is concerned that the GOP is pushing Arturo Hernandez and that the Democrats are pushing Mark Norton. Both men will appear on the Green Party’s Senate primary ballot in July, but the party has endorsed Eduardo Quintana, who serves as the party’s Pima County chairman, as a write-in candidate. Hannah told the outlet neither Norton nor Hernandez has paid dues to the Green Party or ever volunteered or been an officer in the party.
“We have been suspicious of both of these people since the day they filed because we know our Greens,” Hannah told the outlet. “We’re a small group. When somebody random jumps onto the primary ballot and starts collecting signatures, it sets off alarm bells.”
The Arizona secretary of state’s website shows only 2,796 people registered with the Green Party, as of April, making it the fifth most popular party behind the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and No Labels parties.
The party lost recognition in the state in 2019, after having less than 7,000 registered voters in the state, but regained it in 2023 after turning in 62,749 eligible signatures, which met the requirement to form a new party.
The race to fill the Grand Canyon’s Senate seat, held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who is not seeking reelection, will likely be between Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Republican Kari Lake.
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The Arizona Senate contest is expected to be tight and has been rated as a “toss up” by the Cook Political Report. With an expectedly tight race, both candidates will likely seek any advantage.
Third-party candidates have previously been blamed by several presidential candidates for costing them an election, including Democrat Hillary Clinton claiming that Green Party candidate Jill Stein cut into her vote totals and cost her the 2016 election against Republican Donald Trump.