WASHINGTON — “Decoy Dan” is in bed with the opposition.
Elusive Alaska Senate candidate Daniel J. Sullivan, who ran in the midterms as a Republican against an incumbent who shares his name, is married to a woman who donates to Democrats — including his main opponent in the US Senate race, Mary Peltola, according to campaign finance filings.
Federal and state records reviewed by The Post show that Karen Dillman, a Peace Corps volunteer and US Forest Service worker, is her husband Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign treasurer.
Over the years, Dillman has given small-dollar donations to Democratic campaigns for former President Joe Biden, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, failed Texas Senate hopeful and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, as well as the now-senator-elect from the Lone Star State, James Talarico.
But she’s also been a donor for years to her spouse’s current opponent in the 2026 Senate race: Democrat Mary Peltola.
In 2022, she contributed $25 in September of that year to Peltola after the House candidate won a special election the month before to succeed the late Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). She also gave another $25 in January 2024.
And Dillman donated $50 to Peltola’s principal campaign committee in August 2026, one day after the Democrat won the most votes in the state’s non-partisan Senate primary race.
Both she and her husband served stints in the Forest Service, though a rep for the agency said Thursday that Dillman has since retired. A candidate biography for Sullivan said the same.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan came in second place in that contest, with more than 68,000 votes. Daniel J. Sullivan, running as a Republican as well, came in third with 4,098 votes.
Democratic officials and Daniel J. Sullivan have denied he intentionally ran as a spoiler candidate — despite revelations about his ties to party members sparking federal and state probes, as well as a multi-state manhunt, as the candidate hasn’t been seen since before the election.
Half of the money raised by Decoy Dan’s campaign committee was in the form of a loan from the candidate himself. The other came from around a dozen donors, some of whom also donated to Peltola, FEC filings show.
One of those donors, Charles Flint, has been hunted down by the FBI.
“A couple of guys tried to chase me down,” Flint told The Post Thursday, referencing a recent trip to Oregon where agents tried to make contact. His son also got a visit from the bureau at his boat dealership in Alaska.
Asked whether he was going to speak with the feds, he added: “No, I figure if they want to find me, they’ll find me.”
Flint also admitted that he voted first for Peltola and second for Daniel J. Sullivan in the Alaska Senate election on Tuesday — despite having donated more to the latter than the former during the election cycle.
“I called him [Sullivan] when I heard he decided to run and I said, ‘Do you need some financial help?’” he recalled.
That Sullivan’s campaign is also in debt for more than $21,000 to the law firm Caplin & Drysdale, per FEC filings.
The US Attorney’s Office in Alaska has also been investigating whether voters have been deprived of their rights by the “decoy” candidate’s appearance on the ballot.
Some subpoenas have reportedly been issued to the Peltola and Daniel J. Sullivan campaigns. So-called “target letters” to subjects of the probe from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Elias Law Group have also been sent.
Alaska’s Republican governor further announced a probe into whether Peltola’s Senate campaign staff should face criminal charges for recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan, who shifted his registration to Republican when he filed to run for the US Senate in June.
The “decoy” Dan also appears to have vanished in the wind, reportedly last being seen catching a flight out of Anchorage.
In a bombshell article last week, The New York Times reported that Peltola aides and other Democratic campaign officials and attorneys were involved in the recruitment effort for “Decoy Dan.”
Peltola was also aware of the efforts, the report said, and has since made no public comments denying that.
As of Thursday, the Senate contest in Alaska has yet to be called, with Peltola narrowly leading the Republican Dan Sullivan by 637 votes.
Daniel J. Sullivan more than made up for the margin of error, with 3,600 votes recorded for him.
DOJ attorneys tried to block certification in the event of the Republican’s loss, given the alleged confusion over the other candidate sharing his name. The case was dismissed by a federal district judge two days before the election but has since been appealed.
Reps for the Peltola campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment. Neither did Dillman or Dan J. Sullivan.
