The United States Pirate Party is fielding its first candidate of the 2026 cycle, announcing this month that Blase Henry, captain of the Arizona Pirate Party and National Committee Scribe, will run for one of two state House seats in Arizona’s 17th Legislative District.
In an August 12 statement, the national party formally announced its support for Henry, who it described as both a “rising star” within the group and the first Pirate campaign of the upcoming cycle. According to Independent Political Report’s own research, Henry’s endorsement also appears to be the first time the national party has backed a candidate for any office in Arizona.
Henry was elected to the national organization as Scribe earlier this year, assuming the responsibilities of what is essentially the party’s National Secretary role. He is also Chair of the Arizona Pirate Party, which was first announced this past April as part of “big things” for the state, with the group publishing an early platform based on that of the national organization.
If elected next year, Henry said that he pledges to introduce legislation including a state-level digital Bill of Rights, a ban on internet ID and age-verification laws, consumer protections modeled on Europe’s “Stop Killing Games” initiative, and new privacy rules requiring warrants for law enforcement access to personal data.
The party said Henry’s campaign is the first of “many Pirate candidates” it expects to support in 2026, noting that some will appear on the ballot as independents or members of major parties, while others may run explicitly under the Pirate label. According to details on Henry’s website, his campaign is looking to appear on the ballot as an independent. To do so, the campaign aims to collect at least 1,677 valid signatures.
“Some candidates will appear on the ballot as independents, some as members of major parties and some, if they are so fortunate, will have “Pirate” next to their name on the ballot,” the statement continued. “No matter what it says next to their name on the ballot, we will throw our support behind our Pirate candidates.”
This month, the party also backed independent Timothy Grady for Ohio governor as part of its effort to field a variety of candidates. While Grady is not a Pirate candidate in the same vein as Henry, the national committee cited shared values of transparency, individual-first governance, and open access to information.
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