Alaska's governor orders investigation after NYT report on alleged Dem-linked Senate election scheme
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into a reported Democrat-linked scheme to recruit candidates with similar names to confuse voters in the state's Senate race.
The investigation was announced following a New York Times report that detailed an alleged Democrat-linked election scheme involving the recruitment of a candidate with nearly the exact same name as incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. The report specifically mentioned another candidate on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., a retired teacher without party affiliation.
Governor's Response
In a post on X, Dunleavy stated that the Times reporting "reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska's elections." He noted that the Alaska Division of Elections had investigated similar concerns in June and that the new reporting substantially supported those findings.
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.
Alleged Scheme Details
According to the Times article titled "Inside Democrats' Secret Effort to Stack Alaska's Ballot," the newspaper found that "not only did Ms. Peltola's team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader." The report claimed the group worked to recruit other potential spoiler candidates to dilute the incumbent's support.
On Oct. 22, the Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses, pending an investigation into whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the election result.
Political Reactions
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Sen. Sullivan called the alleged scheme "a scandal at the highest order." He accused Peltola of having "nothing to run on" and resorting to cheating. "What's remarkable here is that even today, she has not apologized. Even today, she's kind of playing as if nothing happened," Sullivan added.
The Peltola campaign denied involvement in any spoiler candidate recruitment efforts. "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race," the campaign stated in a response to the Times. Peltola's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's comment request.
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