Who are the free staters?

CACR32, an amendment calling for New Hampshire’s independence from the United States, was shot down on the house floor two weeks ago, but the Libertarian and anti-federalist attitudes behind it are here to stay. The house voted to make the amendment inexpedient to legislate in a 323-13 vote, effectively throttling the bill. Of the 13 members who voted in favor of CACR32, which would have put the question of secession to a statewide vote, none were registered as members of the state's Libertarian party. They were all Republicans. 

For some Republicans in Belknap County and beyond, this trend is becoming a nuisance and concern as Libertarian-minded politicians run under their banner. Others see a crop of needed allies that can bolster their numbers, particularly useful in hyper-local races. 

“I think it's deeply troublesome that there would be elected officials from either party that think this is a reasonable policy goal and would push for such a policy as a final outcome for the state of New Hampshire,” said Brodie Deshaies, a Republican and a representative from Wolfeboro, who was outspoken against CACR32. 

“They’ve realized that Republicans are the best vehicle to win elections,” Deshaies said. 

“The Libertarian party does not have a sufficient following to garner votes,” said local Republican Nancy LeRoy, “but the Republican party does. I’m afraid that people are not aware of the people that they’re electing. They’ve not done their homework.”

LeRoy referenced recent Laconia and Belknap County politics as an example.

“Look at the brouhaha they’ve made over Gunstock. Sorry. It’s that group. We put them there, they’re here on the delegation, because people just didn’t pay attention to what they are doing, or subliminally they wanted it,” LeRoy said. “I find it hard to think that they are speaking for the majority of the people in the city of Laconia when they’re talking in Concord and here at the delegation. They have their followers. Look what they’ve done to the nursing home. You’re not going to fund it? That makes no sense to me.”

Making a big splash in a small pond

For example, on March 11, free stater Ian Underwood’s motion to cut the town of Croyden’s school district budget in half passed. The district is small, with approximately 80 students, and previously had a budget of $1.7 million. After the cut, that budget is now $800,000. 

This decision was praised at a Free State Project meetup at a restaurant in Plymouth in March. Among the attendees was Aubrey Freedman, a free stater who moved from what he calls “the people’s republic of San Francisco” in 2018. This year, Freedman made a run for the Newfound School Board in February; he lost by 99 votes.

“They spend so much money and the results are lousy,” Freedman said of the school board, citing unremarkable test scores. The free stater explained that he initially got involved with the board through his protest of mask mandates and vaccine clinics being set up on school grounds.

“If it’s in the shape it’s in in three years, I’ll run again,” Freedman said, stating that he intends to watch the school board meetings and minutes closely. 

As for the concept of secession, Freedman said he would have voted to support it in principle, but that secession “would never stand a chance in a million years of passing,” citing the fact that older people would lose their social security and by extension their interest in independence, and that the United States would not honor such a motion.

“The powers that be are not going to allow that to happen. Even if New Hampshire voted 100% for secession, they’re not going to allow it, so I don't think there’s been any planning to work out the details, because it's not in the cards.”

Freedman currently works as a contract realtor for Porcupine Realty, a firm that caters towards Libertarian and free stater types looking to migrate to New Hampshire. While exact figures could not be provided, Freedman claimed that the last two years saw an explosion of such sales. 

“They come almost entirely from blue states,” Freedman explained, with a few exceptions from Alaska and Idaho, “as the mandates and the craziness over the last two years… it just pushed more people here, every time there would be another mandate issued, there’s gonna be another wave of free staters moving here. We can barely keep up with it.”  

While some Republicans have expressed distaste at free staters running under their name, others see a potential ally. Linda Molinarro, treasurer of the Plymouth Area Republican Committee, attended the free stater meet up. She stated that her group is more concerned about so-called RINOs – Republicans in name only – than they are about free staters.

“If you’ve got a Democrat in front of you, you know what you got,” Molinarro asserted. “If you have someone like Chuck Morse, to me he’s a RINO because Sununu is a RINO and he’s in bed with him. He talked him into running.”

By teaming up with free staters, many of whom hold overlapping views with Republicans, Molinarro hopes it can boost Republican strength in local politics. 

“It seems like the Democrats are way more organized than the Republicans are,” Molinarro said. “They organize and get people going into the meetings. Even though we get a ton of signatures, no one shows up.”

For new arrival Alex Lemp, who also attended the meet up, the ability to participate in local politics was essential to his decision to relocate from New York in 2021.

“Being in New York, I felt my politics couldn’t do anything,” Lemp said, “here I feel there’s more of a chance to make a difference.”

This ability to access local political power is a keystone in the strategy of the Free State Project, a non-profit organization started in 2001 with the goal of inviting more Libertarians to move to New Hampshire. The movement's website claims that FSP is not a political action organization, and does not endorse or oppose legislation. 

“Its only mission is to bring liberty lovers to the state of New Hampshire,” said Carla Gericke, President Emeritus of the Free State Project, “Once people are here they do all kinds of stuff. I think there’s confusion. It’s not all free staters that are into independence.”

“The Free State Project is not a monolith,” Deshaies acknowledged. “There are free staters that are in the house that are productive and vote against the free state from time to time.”

While not all free staters are pro-secession, Gericke sees an independent New Hampshire as a viable and desirable goal. “If it was an independent country, it would be four times the size of Iceland by population,” Gericke said. “For me personally, I don’t see much hope left with the federal government. I feel like they're pushing us into unconstitutional wars, decimating our economy. I think New Hampshire and Granite Staters would be better off without the yoke of the federal government around our necks.”

The FSP traces its roots to the writings of founder Jason Sorens, a political scientist and director of the center for ethics and society at Saint Anselm College.

“Jason Sorens wrote an essay in 2001 saying, 'Hey, Libertarians don't have success anywhere because we’re geographically dispersed. What would happen if we were in one spot?'” Gericke explained. 

The essay called for people seeking smaller government to flock to the state of New Hampshire. In his initial essay, Sorens estimated that 20,000 such people moving to New Hampshire would be enough to seize some form of control over state government, so that more Liberatrian principles could be implemented across the state. 

The FSP had a quota of 20,000 “pledges” meaning people could sign the pledge that they would move to the Granite State within five years. 

The FSP website states that 19,988 people have signed the pledge and that there are over 6,000 free staters currently in New Hampshire, and that 45 free staters have been elected as representatives.

20 years on from its inception, Sorens is no longer a FSP board member and has publicly stated that he is not in favor of secession. 

“Jason Sorens, he was the first person to use session not to leave the union, but to use it as leverage over the federal government,” said Deshaies. “He disavowed that opinion, saying the idea attracted neo-fascists, neo-Confederates and fringe elements.”

“I have expressed some concerns about that,” Sorens said. “I think on the whole, the Free State Project has attracted desirable people who have reasonable views and conduct themselves well. But I am worried that the marketing message is appealing to some people who are maybe not sincere Libertarians and are just more contrarians and anti-government in their views.”

As for secession being utilized as a leveraging tool against the federal government, Sorens confirmed that his opinion changed.

“The idea wasn’t well thought out at that time, in a subsequent essay I abandoned that idea. I wrote a less often quoted update about two weeks later,” in which he walked back from secession argument.

When asked about CACR32, Sorens stated he wasn’t privy to the motivation of the sponsors. “My guess is they wanted to start a conversation on the issue,” he said.

“The end goal is to have a government that is following the various constitutions that have been written,” said Rep. Mike Sylvia, a Republican from Belmont, chair of the Belknap County Delegation and CACR32’s primary sponsor. When asked what a free and sovereign New Hampshire nation would look like, such as government, and borders, Sylvia declined to provide any details. “You are looking for the answers from a central planner. I am not a central planner,” Sylvia said. As for what comes after CACR32’s defeat, Sylvia stated, “That’s a good question. I suppose that in time, that will get answered.”