83,000 Independent American Party Voters and a Ballot Line Republicans Cannot Ignore
The Independent American Party (IAP) has been on Nevada ballots for decades, and its name still fools people. Checking “independent” can put a voter in the IAP, not in the large group of unaffiliated voters. The IAP is its own party. The same leadership runs Nevada Families for Freedom, which focuses on right-to-life issues.
Daniel Hansen founded Nevada’s IAP in 1967 after leaving the Republican Party. Janine Hansen, Daniel’s sister, is the longtime chair and runs it from Elko. Brothers Joel and Christopher have been officers and candidates. Republican State Senator Ira Hansen is Daniel’s son. Janine is his aunt.
Secretary of State reports put IAP registration near 83,000, about 4% of the statewide roll. The label still causes mix-ups. Voters who meant to register as independents have landed in the IAP instead. That inflates the party’s count and puts a conservative line on ballots next to Republican nominees.
The IAP never wins statewide, but it always runs. In close races, it takes votes from Republicans and can give Democrats the margin they need. In 2022, Janine Hansen took 1.7% for secretary of state, about 17,500 votes, while Republican Jim Marchant lost to Democrat Cisco Aguilar by about 2.2%. In 2024, Hansen took 1.46% in the U.S. Senate race, about 21,300 votes, while Republican Sam Brown lost to Democrat Jacky Rosen by about 24,000 votes. Those totals sit in the same range as the Republican deficits. Democrats had no Green Party or Democratic Socialist nominee on those ballots to split the left.
No poll asks IAP voters their second choice. The closest clue is 2024. President Trump (R) won Nevada. Sam Brown (R) lost the Senate race. Janine Hansen and the Libertarian took more than 42,000 Senate votes and fewer than 9,000 presidential votes. That is a conservative pool, not a centrist one. Most of those ballots would likely have gone Republican. Combined, they were larger than Brown’s loss to Sen. Jacky Rosen (D). The IAP is not a neutral third party.
Republicans have said so themselves. Sen. Ira Hansen has called IAP candidates spoilers who “can only be spoilers and never win any major races themselves” and has distanced himself from the family party.
The next test is November 3, 2026. Janine Hansen is on the ballot again, this time for lieutenant governor against Republican incumbent Stavros Anthony and Democrat Sandra Jauregui. Brad Barnhill is the IAP nominee for secretary of state against Aguilar, Marchant, and Libertarian John Kennedy. The party is also running Lynn Chapman in Congressional District 2, Jon Kamerath in District 3, Russell Best in District 4, Charlene Young in State Senate District 13, and Stan Vaughan in Assembly District 20, plus local races in Humboldt, Nye, Sparks, and Douglas.
The Independent American Party is small, but it is on the ballot every cycle. Its name sounds like “no party,” and it usually gets 1% to 3% in big statewide races. Republicans have lost some of those races by about the same amount. In Nevada, that sliver can decide the winner.
