Who is the Independent Voter?

Dr. Thom Reilly is a professor and co-director for the Center for an Independent and
Sustainable Democracy in the School of Public Affairs at ASU.

He is the former Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education where he served as chief executive officer and oversaw, under the authority of an elected board of regents, a system that includes R-1 research universities, four-year undergraduate institutions, and community colleges.

He previously served as County Manager for Clark County Nevada (the Las Vegas Valley), where he responsible for both regional and municipal-type services. As the chief executive officer, he reported to an elected board of commissioners and was responsible for a $5.8 billion budget and over 12,000 employees.

Thom also was the former head of the child welfare system in Nevada. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and author of several books including: The Independent Voter (with Jacqueline Salit and Omar Ali) released in 2023; The Failure of Governance in Bell California (2016) ; and Rethinking Public Sector Compensation (2012).

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Jacqueline Salit is a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, where she co-directs the ASU Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy. She is President of Independent Voting, the national non-profit representing the 45% plus of Americans who choose not to identify with a political party.

Salit is a 30-year veteran of the independent movement, playing vital roles in the groundbreaking independent presidential campaigns of Ross Perot and Lenora Fulani. She ran the Independence Party segment of Michael Bloomberg’s three successful NYC mayoral campaigns.

Salit is the author of Independents Rising (Palgrave MacMillan) and co-author of The Independent Voter (Routledge Press). Also a playwright and a member of the Dramatists Guild, her plays include Shackleton on Ice, Votes, The American Society of One-Hit Wonders, Call Me Shirley and BALDWIN/KENNEDY.

She resides in Clarkdale in the Mingus Mountains.

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Kyrsten knows firsthand the challenges everyday Arizonans face. Born in Tucson, Kyrsten went through some tough times growing up. Her family struggled to make ends meet, and for a while they were even homeless. But they got by thanks to family, church, and hard work. Kyrsten’s childhood experience showed her the power of hard work and the importance of helping others.

Education was Kyrsten’s ticket to a better life. With the help of student loans, academic scholarships, and financial aid, she went to BYU and then ASU, where she now teaches as a proud Sun Devil.

After graduating, she worked with students and families in Arizona who faced some of the same challenges she did. Kyrsten’s commitment to service led her to the Arizona Legislature, where she passed a law to help veterans get in–state tuition at all Arizona public universities, cracked down on sex trafficking, and advocated for children’s health care and education.

Now as Arizona’s senior Senator, Kyrsten works every day to deliver for Arizona families – helping veterans get the benefits they’ve earned, creating good–paying jobs for Arizonans, and keeping Americans safe at home and abroad.

Kyrsten feels a duty to serve and give back to the communities and country that gave her so much. She got her shot at the American dream, and she’ll keep working to make sure all Arizonans get theirs too.

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In 2022, Adrian Fontes was elected as Arizona's 21st Secretary of State. Secretary Fontes is a proud Arizona native, an honorable veteran of the United States Marine Corps, and the father of three daughters, who has spent a lifetime fighting for justice and defending our Democracy.

Secretary Fontes served on active duty from 1992 to 1996 and was nominated for a meritorious commission. His service to our country taught him the importance of dedication, discipline, and sacrifice to forcefully fight for the American dream.

After graduating from law school, Secretary Fontes spent his career advocating for justice and fighting for those who are disadvantaged — first as a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney and then at the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. He later led the International Prosecution Unit at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. He practiced law for 15 years before running for office in 2016 when he was elected Maricopa County Recorder.

As Recorder, Secretary Fontes revolutionized the election system by ensuring that every eligible Arizonan had the access they needed to vote. Adrian enhanced ballot tracking technology and increased process transparency, winning recognition and awards from election organizations across the country.

In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 crisis and amidst violent protests, Maricopa County saw record voter turnout, as well as record numbers of new voters registered for both parties. Secretary Fontes later testified before Congress to inform them of threats facing election officials.

Secretary Fontes is committed to preserving integrity in our elections, making voting easier for registered voters, and ensuring that Arizona’s business community has a non-partisan partner in the Secretary’s office.

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Morris Fiorina is the Wendt Family Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution. His research focuses primarily on representation and elections. He has written or edited fourteen books, most recently, Who Governs? Emergency Powers in the Time of Covid.

Fiorina has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has received career achievement awards from the American Political Science Association’s organized sections on Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior, and Political Organizations and Parties.

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Samara Klar is a Melody S. Robidoux Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona. She uses experiments and surveys to understand how individuals form preferences when it comes to politics, particularly in the American context. Her award-winning work has appeared in top journals in her field, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other national & international outlets. She is the co-author of Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Leads to Political Inaction (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and the forthcoming book Partisan Hostility and American Democracy: Explaining Political Divisions (University of Chicago Press, 2023). She holds a PhD from Northwestern University, as well as degrees from Columbia University and McGill University.

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Eric is the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Veterans for Political Innovation (VPI) – a veteran- led nonprofit that is building and mobilizing a community of military veterans to advocate  or election innovations that unlock competition, make our politics less toxic and our government more effective.

Eric graduated with honors from the United States Naval Academy in 1997, and served on active duty for eight years as a naval flight officer. Before discovering his passion for political innovations, Eric was a successful real estate broker and attorney in St. Louis, Missouri. For three years, Eric was a Board Leader with Show Me Integrity – a cross-partisan democracy reform organization that in 2020, helped pass an innovative, non-partisan Approval Voting system for St. Louis City.

After the 2020 election, a fellow veteran saw Eric’s passion for political reforms and recommended
getting more veterans involved in the movement. Early in 2021, Eric put together an informal advisory board of veterans from across the country and political spectrum to investigate this opportunity.

Veterans for Political Innovation (VPI) launched publicly, in Wisconsin, in October 2021. Since then, VPI has mobilized over 2,200 veterans and supporters in 45 states. In 2022, VPI was a coalition partner with the successful “Yes on 3!” ballot amendment campaign to bring “Final-Five Voting” (a/k/a “the Alaska Election Model”) to Nevada. In 2023, VPI’s 270 veteran leaders are supporting over 20 different active reform campaigns in cities and states across the country.

Eric is happily married to a talented home designer and the proud father of three public school kids.

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Chuck Coughlin is CEO and President of HighGround, Inc. He founded the Company 25 years ago as a political consulting firm specializing in campaign management. Today, the firm has a full palate of public affairs professionals from lobbying, communications, public opinion polling, digital media, and campaign management. In recent years the firm was named: "2023 Best Polling Firm" by Arizona Capitol Times, "2022 Public Affairs Firm of the Year” by Campaigns and Elections, “2022 Best Lobbying Firm” and “2022 Best Public Relations Firm” by Arizona Capitol Times.

Coughlin is a five-time winner of Arizona’s “Best Political Operative” awarded by the Arizona Capitol Times. Additionally, he has earned the Arizona Capitol Times title of "Leader of the Year" twice. He served as Governor Brewer’s transition Chairman for her 2009 Transition team and was the campaign manager for Governor Symington’s 1994 re-election campaign which overcame a post Labor Day double-digit deficit to win re-election. Under his leadership, HighGround has won over 50 awards from Campaigns and Elections and the American Association of Political Consultants.

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Joseph Garcia is Executive Director of Sí Se Vota Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund, a 501(c)4 nonprofit advocacy organization, which launched a $10 million voter engagement campaign that resulted in more than 50,000 additional Latino voters in Arizona’s 2022 midterm elections.

He also is Vice President of Public Policy at Chicanos Por La Causa, a 501(c)3 nonprofit social services organization with operations in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California, and Nevada.

Prior to joining CPLC in 2019, Garcia was Director of Communication and Community Impact at Arizona State University Morrison Institute for Public Policy, where he founded its Latino Public Policy Center and was editor and contributor of several research studies on elections and voting, including the changing electorate, the emerging Latino vote, and the rise and influence of independent voters.

Previously, as a long-time newspaper journalist, Garcia was an editor, reporter, and columnist whose award-winning coverage included elections and politics.

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