ICYMI — NY Sun: An Independent ‘Spoiler’ Candidate Sues To Get On U.S. Senate Ballot in New Hampshire To Punish Republicans

For immediate release:
July 15, 2026

ICYMI — NY Sun: An Independent ‘Spoiler’ Candidate Sues To Get On U.S. Senate Ballot in New Hampshire To Punish Republicans

In Case You Missed It, recent reporting from the New York Sun highlights how independent conservative and Free Stater U.S. Senate candidate Aaron Day is suing New Hampshire’s Secretary of State “in federal court to get on the ballot as an independent,” and “spoil” potential Republican nominee John Sununu’s campaign.

Day — who takes credit for sinking Kelly Ayotte’s 2016 Senate reelection — is arguing that Secretary of State David Scanlan “violated the United State Constitution” by blocking him from submitting a declaration of intent to run as an independent candidate. Day’s staunchly anti-Sununu approach could win over libertarians and Republicans who are frustrated with Donald Trump, including “liberty Republicans who are upset over Congressman Thomas Massie’s loss in Kentucky or the war in Iran.”

All eyes are on the Maine Senate race, but in neighboring New Hampshire, a legal drama is unfolding that could influence the outcome of this battleground state’s Senate race — and who controls the upper chamber.
A libertarian activist and entrepreneur, Aaron Day, is suing the New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlon in federal court to get on the ballot as an independent in the U.S. Senate race. Mr. Day is not running because he thinks he can win; his intention is to “spoil” the election by syphoning right-leaning voters away from the likely Republican nominee, former Senator, John E. Sununu.
[...] If he gets on the ballot, this won’t be Mr. Day’s first rodeo as a “spoiler” candidate. In 2016, he ran for Senate in New Hampshire as an independent, garnering 17,000 votes. The Republican incumbent, Kelly Ayotte, lost reelection that year to the Democrat, Maggie Hassan, by only 1,017 votes.
[...] In his lawsuit, Mr. Day contends that Mr. Scanlon violated the United State Constitution when his office rejected Mr. Day’s filing to run for office because he was registered to vote in a different New Hampshire town from the one where he lives. Mr. Day says he filed a new voter registration form and resubmitted his paperwork to run but was again rejected because, he was told, state law requires he be registered before the start of the candidate filing period.
At a court hearing in Concord on Monday, Judge Andrea Johnstone asked Mr. Day and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office to focus on U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton in their briefs. This 1995 Supreme Court precedent struck down state-enacted term limits for Congress, ruling that states do not have the constitutional authority to add new restrictions for federal office.
Judge Johnstone’s suggestion to focus on this case portends well for Mr. Day. The only preconditions to run for Senate listed in the Constitution are that a person be 30 years of age, a United States citizen for the last nine years, and live in the state they represent at the time their term starts.
The judge also promised to expedite the hearings and decide in time for Mr. Day to be able to get on the ballot should the court rule in his favor. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Mr. Day says that no one took him seriously when he launched his campaign in 2016, but they should now. Mr. Day is a former chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire and a former executive director of the Free State Project.
[...] There are between 7- and 10,000 Free Staters.
[...] “If he makes it onto the general election ballot, Free Stater Aaron Day will give libertarian-minded Granite Staters a place to voice their frustration over John Sununu’s total subservience to Donald Trump, the D.C. Republican establishment, and corporate special interests,” the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Ray Buckley, tells the Sun. “Any efforts to keep Day off of the ballot will only make his case stronger.”
The Sununu campaign did not immediately return the Sun’s request for comment. Mr. Day’s demands and his pro-cryptocurrency and antiwar platform may appeal to some liberty Republicans who are upset over Congressman Thomas Massie’s loss in Kentucky or the war in Iran.
[...] Mr. Day says his “base is not Free Staters.” He mentions disillusioned MAGA voters and Tucker Carlson, Mr. Massie, and Marjorie Taylor Green. “It’s becoming a mainstream political topic, the idea of sitting this one out for the purpose of internal repair within the Republican Party,” he says.
A Democratic strategist from New Hampshire, Scott Merrick, tells the Sun the Senate race will be an “uphill battle for Sununu,” given Mr. Trump’s dismal approval rating in New Hampshire and Democrat voter enthusiasm this cycle. [...]

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