Former independent U.S. Senate candidate Aaron Day has launched a new political organization planning to spend millions supporting third party candidates in several Senate races this November, beginning with Constitution Party candidate Ed Laplante in New Hampshire.
Day launched the group, StarkFreedom, on Tuesday, saying he created it along with his wife, Eileen Day. Day said the group will support third party Senate candidates in four races at the expense of their Republican opponents, with the effort intended to cost Republicans control of the Senate over promises he believes the party has failed to keep.
“Our goal is to cost Republicans control of the Senate by supporting third-party candidates and campaigning against the Republican in each race,” Day explained. “Not because Democrats deserve our loyalty. Because Republicans hold power, and keeping it should depend on keeping their promises.”
Day, a former Libertarian candidate who unsuccessfully sought the state party’s support again earlier this year, had been pursuing his own independent campaign for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire this cycle, which he originally said was intended to impose “electoral consequences” on Republicans rather than necessarily win office himself.
The Secretary of State’s office initially blocked him from filing his declaration of intent because he was not registered to vote in Nashua, where he had recently moved from another New Hampshire town. Day challenged that decision in federal court and won a preliminary injunction requiring the state to accept his declaration and include him on the ballot if he was otherwise eligible.
Day added in his announcement that he had enough certified signatures to qualify and intended to complete the process after winning the case but ultimately chose not to submit his nomination papers. He says he stayed off the ballot after being promised action on one or more of the political demands he had attached to ending his campaign.
However, Day said the promised action never happened. He did not identify who made the promise or which of his demands it concerned, but Day had previously said he would end his candidacy if such demands were met. For Day, that was freeing people he called “crypto political prisoners,” firing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, defeating the CLARITY Act, and ending the military draft.
The Secretary of State later said Day would still not appear on the ballot because his nomination papers were not submitted by the deadline.
For its first race, StarkFreedom is focusing on New Hampshire, where Day is asking his supporters to back Laplante and oppose Republican nominee and former U.S. Sen. John Sununu. Laplante, the chair of the New Hampshire Constitution Party, qualified for the ballot earlier this month.
Day said that learning Laplante had qualified also factored into his decision to stay off. He further referenced a Rasmussen survey conducted earlier this month that showed him with 4 percent support and Laplante with 2 percent. While he acknowledged that those voters would not all move to Laplante, Day said he believes Laplante’s campaign could still benefit from some of that support.
“Those aren’t votes I can simply hand over,” he said. “But I believe Ed can exceed 5%, and I’m going to work to help him do it.”
To that end, Day said StarkFreedom is organizing to spend up to $2.5 million across the four Senate races. While he did not identify the other three states or candidates, saying only that they would be in swing states, he plans to announce them this week during The Aaron Day Show, his personal podcast.
Editorial note: Since this article’s original publication, StarkFreedom has expanded its slate from the four U.S. Senate candidates initially announced by Day to six. In addition to Laplante, the full slate includes Libertarians Ted Brown in Texas, David Graham in Kansas, Bill Redpath in Ohio, Thomas Laehn in Iowa, and U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate Tim Long in Michigan.
Day also said the group intends to produce a considerable amount of its content in house using artificial intelligence, a technology he has openly advocated using and says he relied on during his earlier federal ballot access case. More specifically, StarkFreedom plans to use the technology to produce polling, legal drafting, campaign research, and other such items.
“My name isn’t on the ballot. The consequences of breaking promises still can be,” Day said. “If the administration won’t respond to the promises it made, will it respond to losing the Senate?”
Editorial note: Since this article’s original publication, StarkFreedom has expanded its slate from the four U.S. Senate candidates initially announced by Day to six. In addition to Laplante, the slate includes Libertarians Ted Brown in Texas, David Graham in Kansas, Bill Redpath in Ohio, Thomas Laehn in Iowa, and U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate Tim Long in Michigan.