Clay Aiken had fans rooting for him all over again on Election Day morning. The beloved “American Idol” alum, who was runner-up to gentle giant and dear friend Ruben Studdard, posted a photo of them during the Season 2 finale in 2003, hearing host Ryan Seacrest read the results of the “nationwide vote.”
Across the photo was a banner that said, in all caps, “VOTING MATTERS.” In the caption of his post on November 3, 2026, Aiken wrote, “your biannual reminder … still blessed to live in a place where our voices matter. Have you used yours yet?”
Clay Aiken’s Post Has Fans Re-Living 2003 ‘American Idol’ Vote
Aiken’s point, of course, was to encourage Americans to exercise their right to vote on Election Day, but his comment section was flooded with fans who thought the post was hilariously “savage,” as one put it, recalling how stunned they were that he’d lost “American Idol” 23 years earlier.
One wrote, “Hahahahahahahaha I will never not share how I cried when you lost 😂”
Another recalled, “Your season was the only one I watched religiously and would kick my sister off the internet for to vote using home phone!!! Love you Clay! ROCK THE VOTE”
“Oof that was a rough night for me,” someone else remembered. “I cried for so long lol. BUT yes. Yes I voted early! Lol 💙”
One fan hilariously showed her true colors, confessing, “Bahahahahahaha! Is it safe for me to say on here that I wanted Ruben to win? 😨”
Clay Aiken Actually Ran For Office After ‘American Idol’
Years after Aiken’s rise to fame, he ran twice for Congress in his home state of North Carolina — once in 2014 and again in 2022, per the Associated Press. Aiken beat former state Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco in the 2014 primaries, winning the Democratic nomination for the mostly rural district he was running in, hoping to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. But Aiken earned 41 percent of the vote in the general election, losing to then-Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers.
In 2022, after moving to the Raleigh area, he tried again in a district that has historically voted for Democrats. He said his priorities were to “promote inclusion, provide free, high-quality health care and fight climate change,” per the AP. However, he lost in the primary to Valerie Foushee, earning just 7.2 percent of the vote.
In 2025, Aiken told EntertainmentNow that his 2022 run helped him realize how “completely nasty” politics has become and that he’s happy to return to focus on his music, inspiring people to find what they have in common, not what divides them. In September, Aiken released his first album of original music in two decades, called “Rewind.”
In his Election Day post, he included a poll in his comment section to find out if his fans had voted early, were voting today or didn’t care. Two hours in, he’d received 475 responses, with 67 percent reported they’d already cast their ballots.
Clay Aiken’s ‘Savage’ Election Day Post Has Fans Howling