Arizona No Labels Party gubernatorial candidate Hugh Lytle was a walk-on quarterback for Arizona State before injuring his collarbone. Though Lytle never saw game time with the Sun Devils, he is carrying his football experience into his race for governor, hoping to clinch a win in November.
Lytle announced his bid for governor in January outside ASU’s Mountain America Stadium. He is vying for the position against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican Andy Biggs, the leading GOP candidate in recent polls.
He secured a win Monday when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled he can run for governor even though he technically violated a state law by not listing his home address on his nominating paperwork. Although he used a UPS Store mailbox instead of his residential address, the Arizona Supreme Court and lower courts ruled that he “substantially complied” with the statutory framework and did not mislead voters
Before his venture into politics, Lytle was an entrepreneur with four businesses in the healthcare industry. Before then, he was a team player in another way, helping Indianapolis’ Franklin Central High School to three state championships as a starting quarterback. His time on the field continued briefly at Hanover College in Indiana and as a walk-on quarterback for ASU’s football team.
“And so that’s been how the career has been built – (implementing) kind of those same things I learned in football and the same things I learned in sports about discipline, focus, building great teams and executing,” Lytle said. “Same thing I bring to the governor’s office.”
Lytle was on the roster for the Sun Devils in the 1980s but was injured before ever playing in a regular season game. His roommate was quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst, who led ASU to victory in the 1987 Rose Bowl and is now a color commentator for the team. In hindsight, Lytle admitted he might have fared better at a smaller school, but at the time, he was chasing his NFL dreams.
Since then, Lytle has immersed himself in the healthcare world. Most recently, he founded El Toro Ventures, a healthcare investment company, after founding Equality Health, Univita Health and Axia Health Management. Lytle has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, following in the footsteps of his father, Ben Lytle, who founded Anthem.
“I just learned everything I possibly could,” Lytle said. “Took different positions, got promoted, went back down, did everything I could.”
Lytle learned a lot from his time in healthcare, saying his work as an entrepreneur makes him a prime candidate in the gubernatorial race, but he has also carried with him lessons from his playing days.
As a quarterback, he had to learn the role of everyone’s position, a mindset that sticks with him as he steps into politics.
“I would know exactly what everybody’s doing,” he said. “I would personally go out and whip the votes. I’m going to be sitting with the legislators, saying, ‘Why are we not getting this done? What do we need to get done to make this bill happen?’”
It’s not just about knowing his team and his players. Lytle knows how the pressure feels when the clock is ticking down in the final minutes or seconds of a game or play. But he doesn’t plan to be pressed for time if he wins the gubernatorial race in November. He already is building panels to better understand policies and policy change, and plans to have a budget ready by October so that he can “hit the ground running.”
“It’s one of these things where, especially as quarterback, you have to make quick decisions, very short decisions,” he said. “So that means you have to study. You have to be prepared. So I’m someone who absolutely prepares in advance.”
His road to the governor’s office might be bumpier than he imagined. The Arizona No Labels Party switched its name to the Independent Party in October 2025, but the name change has since been rolled back. The controversy surrounding the name change revolves around the fact that the No Labels Party gained state recognition under that name specifically, and changing to the Arizona Independent Party would be confusing for voters registered as Independents.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Greg Como voided Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ approval of the name change, calling it a “bait and switch,” reasoning that signees for political parties are “largely motivated by how the party describes itself, i.e., the party’s name.”
As of April, 35.54% of Arizona voters were registered as Republicans, 28.13% as Democrats, 1.03% as No Labels, .71% as Libertarian, .12% as Green and 34.48% as other, according to the state’s most recent voter registration statistics.
Lytle isn’t discouraged by his challengers, though, explaining competition – on the field and in politics – makes people better.
With the primaries set for July 21, Lytle continues to try to pull from both sides of the aisle to fuel his campaign and compete with other candidates.
“When it comes to my candidacy, we are the world,” he said. “I am everything from conservative, business-focused, pro military, pro police, all the way to socially moderate and believing in everybody, human rights, civil rights, equal rights for all.”
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