The leader of a new organization focused on independent candidates said voters need to know they have options besides the Republican and Democratic parties.

Nathan Gotsch is the executive director of the nonprofit Independent Indiana. Gotsch, who ran for Congress in 2022 as an independent candidate, said voter registration data consistently shows independents are the largest bloc. Data compiled by the Independent Voter Project shows 44% of Indiana voters are registered independents, while 31% are registered Republicans and 25% are registered Democrats. He said he got the idea for starting Independent Indiana after looking at that data and talking to independents who have been elected to public office. Notably, Huntington Mayor Richard Strick, a former Republican, won his seat as an independent in 2019, and was reelected in 2023.

“I think the stereotype in the past has been that independents are these wacky people who couldn’t run as Republicans or Democrats,” Gotsch said. “A lot of these folks have been major party nominees in the past. We’re seeing more and more of these people who just want to serve their communities and have the freedom to represent their constituents in a way that they think is best without having them having to worry about what the parties might want them to say or do.”

Gotsch said Independent Indiana will push for changes to Indiana election laws to make it easier for independents to get on the ballot. The organization also is compiling a toolkit to help independent candidates get on the ballot. He said the organization is still reviewing what it can and can’t do based on its nonprofit status, but it could consider endorsing candidates if nonprofit rules allow.

Gotsch said his donors are anonymous, but come from across the political spectrum. He said supporters include some past statewide elected officials, though he declined to offer specifics.

A majority of American voters consistently say in polls they want a third option in elections, but those same voters rarely take a third option when it’s presented to them. Pew Research last year reviewed polling and election results for independent and third-party presidential candidates, such as Gary Johnson in 2016, and Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996. They found support slipped closer to the election and final results consistently underperformed poll projections. Gotsch said he blames ballot access laws, which keep independent candidates off the ballot and prevent them from concentrating on running their campaigns. Under state law, independent and minor-party candidates must collect signatures totaling at least 2% of the total votes cast in the most recent election for secretary of state in the district the candidate wishes to represent. Republicans and Democrats don’t face that hurdle.

“If those rules change and we have a level playing field, I think you’d start to see independents be more successful because they’d be able to run campaigns all the way through the campaign season and not have to worry about collecting signatures,” Gotsch said.