Entrepreneur and libertarian activist Aaron Day tells the Washington Examiner that nothing short of a “miracle” or a change in federal cryptocurrency policy can stop him from running a third-party bid as an independent for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat.
Day’s movement is ever closer to a campaign designed to dash the GOP’s chances and amplify his anti-technocratic beliefs, coming after amassing nearly two dozen volunteers to collect the signatures required to qualify for the ballot.
“It would take a miracle. It would take a 180-degree reversal on Trump’s policies on the war on crypto,” Day said of him running, putting it at a “99%” chance he mounts an official campaign.
In 2016, Day played spoiler in New Hampshire for then-GOP incumbent Kelly Ayotte, paving the way for now-Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH). This year, Day says he’s ready to do it again in the name of fighting technocracy, the belief that scientists and engineers control political institutions and individual freedoms, exacerbated by artificial intelligence.
Day accuses President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress of having “accelerated” the war on crypto with new cryptocurrency laws and regulations such as the GENIUS Act, fueling his desire to spoil former Sen. John E. Sununu’s candidacy, the establishment-backed GOP front-runner.
In 2016, Day garnered nearly 18,000 votes for Senate in a race Ayotte lost to Hassan by just 1,000 votes. A decade later, Day is fully prepared to dash Senate Republicans’ hopes of flipping the Democratic-leaning seat vacated by retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Trump-endorsed Sununu, the brother of former Gov. Chris Sununu, is facing grassroots conservative former Sen. Scott Brown. On the Democratic side, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) is the frontrunner for his party’s nomination.
The Granite State is a must-win seat for Democrats if they hope to retake the Senate majority. Republicans currently hold the chamber 53-47.
Day’s candidacy could pull voters from both parties, but like in 2016, he would likely draw crucial support away from Republicans. The GOP is already facing a tough political climate and there are questions about voter turnout without Trump at the top of the ballot.
“Poll after poll has proven that John Sununu is the only candidate who can beat Chris Pappas and turn New Hampshire red in November,” said a GOP operative, who requested anonymity to discuss the race candidly.
Day has also courted the backing of state community activists like Terese Bastarache, a leader of the New Hampshire-based “WE the People NH” libertarian social media group. Bastarache says she’s prepared to back Day, so long as Sununu is the Republican nominee over Brown.
“I will not be able to fill in a bubble next to John Sununu’s name. So, let the chips fall where they may,” Bastarache told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t want it to go to a far-left loon, but there actually is a line in the sand.”
New Hampshire’s filing deadline is still months away in mid-June, and its primaries aren’t until Sept. 8.
MEET AARON DAY, THE 2016 SPOILER WHO COULD SINK SENATE GOP HOPES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Sununu campaign did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson previously told the Washington Examiner of Day’s potential candidacy that “New Hampshire voters know that just Chris Pappas and John Sununu have a chance to be U.S. senator, and only John Sununu will be an independent voice for Granite Staters who will always put New Hampshire first.”
The Pappas campaign declined to comment.