Alaska’s Republican governor announced early Thursday he was ordering an investigation into whether members of Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign should face criminal charges following the revelation that they recruited a candidate with the same name as GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan in a bid to siphon votes away from the incumbent.
After the plot was revealed in a Wednesday New York Times report, Gov. Mike Dunleavy described it as “an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates—including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator—to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes.”
“I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The evidence will determine what happens next,” Dunleavy added. “Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections. Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable.”
Republicans have repeatedly cried foul over the presence of Dan J. Sullivan on the Nov. 3 general election ballot alongside Peltola, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, and a fourth candidate, Gerald Heikes. However, the practice known as “ballot-stacking” is legal — if ethically questionable — and it was not immediately clear what offenses Democrats may have committed.
The Times report detailed a recruitment scheme joined by staffers of both Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), in which veteran party operative Jerid Kurtz made contact with Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and former US Forest Service employee.
As Kurtz reportedly told Peltola aides earlier this year, Dan J. Sullivan had said he “hated Trump” and was willing to pursue a spoiler campaign “if it was going to help Mary.”
The report cited text messages — including one in which Peltola’s then-chief of staff, Anton McParland, said he feared Kurtz was being too conspicuous with his efforts, prompting DSCC director of campaigns Andrew Piatt to respond: “We will check in.”
Another source, Peltola’s former campaign manager Elisa Rios, recalled conversations in which Kurtz described using pseudonyms and cover stories to throw potential Republican monitors off his tail.
The Democrats also reached out to past Alaska candidates to sound them out about going on the ballot and potentially taking votes away from Sullivan. One of them, a former House candidate named Matthew Salisbury, confirmed Kurtz had contacted him in December 2025 about a potential Senate run.
“I’m not naïve,” Salisbury told the Times. “I had to have that general idea that they’re not in it for me.”
Dan J. Sullivan has insisted that he entered the race of his own volition. He also describes himself as a moderate Republican but the Times reported earlier this year that he took part in anti-Trump “No Kings” protests, supported Peltola in both her House bids in 2022 and 2024, and even has a magnet depicting notorious far-left revolutionary Che Guevara on his refrigerator.
In June, Alaska’s Division of Elections removed Dan J. Sullivan from the primary ballot, finding that a “preponderance of the evidence” showed his name and Republican party affiliation were chosen to potentially confuse voters.
Days later, the Alaska Supreme Court ordered “Decoy Dan” put back on the ballot, finding state law did not require candidates to run in good faith, and told the state Divison of Elections to take less drastic steps to differentiate between the two Sullivans.
Sen. Sullivan is listed on the general election ballot as the Republican incumbent. The other Sullivan is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation given.
Dunleavy’s announcement followed calls by President Trump for Peltola — who Rios told the Times was “definitely aware” of the ballot-stacking effort, but not actively involved — to “suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done.”
“I don’t think Mary Peltola, after perpetrating such a terrible scheme, should be allowed to run, because this is ELECTION FRAUD,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. “The Democrats cheated! They found a man named Dan Sullivan, put him on the Ballot, then lied to the Court, and said they didn’t know anything about it. That’s perjury. She shouldn’t be allowed to run, and neither should the FAKE Dan Sullivan!”
Dan S. Sullivan, during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday night, said his rival should “come clean” about whatever role she played in the plan and said Alaskans should “look Mary Peltola in the eye and ask her, ‘Did you cheat?’ She won’t even answer that question.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) agreed with her colleague that Alaskans “deserve the honest truth from Mary and her campaign — what has been revealed is a pattern of lies and coverups and a culture of deception that belongs nowhere in our elections or among our elected officials.”
During a campaign stop in Soldotna Wendesday, Peltola suggested the Times report was a “distraction” from issues such as the cost of living and Sullivan’s support for the war against Iran.
“This is all stuff to sell newspapers,” she said. “This is all stuff to get subscriptions.”
Peltola’s campaign, in a statement, said it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign,” having offered a similar comment during the June ballot controversy. The DSCC similarly said Wednesday it “is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.”
Last week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to halt certification of a potential Peltola win, citing the presence of the two Dan Sullivans on the ballot.
Through Tuesday, more than 61,000 ballots had already been cast in Alaska, according to AP data.
Under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, one of Peltola or Sullivan must finish with more than 50% of the vote to be elected.
With Post wires
