Alaska's governor orders investigation into Peltola campaign over allegedly recruiting second Dan Sullivan

Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after a New York Times report that people aligned with the campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as her main opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Dunleavy said in a post on social media that there had already been a probe by the Alaska Division of Elections, so he was ordering the Department of Public Safety to "investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska's laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted." 

"Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support," Dunleavy wrote. "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections."

Peltola's campaign and the Democrats' Senate campaign arm have strongly denied any hand in getting the duplicate Sullivan on the ballot.

At a campaign stop in Soldotna, Alaska, Peltola called the report a "distraction," according to Alaska Public Media.

"Nobody's waking up worried about ballot composition," she said. "Not even me. I'm worried about my bills. I'm worried about affordability in health care."

President Trump weighed in on Wednesday, telling reporters "I think (Peltola and the other Sullivan) should be prosecuted." In an earlier social media post, he said the Democrat "shouldn't be allowed to run" and that the party had "crated fake candidates." 

"I don't think Mary Peltola, after perpetrating such a terrible scheme, should be allowed to run, because this is ELECTION FRAUD," the president wrote in one of several Truth Social posts about the issue. "The Democrats cheated!

Voters in Alaska's closely watched Senate contest are choosing between four candidates who survived a nonpartisan primary earlier this year. Those include Peltola and Sullivan, along with a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The ballot — which allows voters to rank the candidates rather than just selecting one — identifies the sitting senator as a Republican and an incumbent, while Danial J. Sullivan Jr. has no party affiliation listed.

On Wednesday, the Times reported that a Democratic operative who worked with Peltola's campaign and national Democrats helped encourage Daniel J. Sullivan to run, citing text messages and interviews. The newspaper reported that it appeared to be part of a wider effort to draw more candidates into the race.

The second Sullivan has vexed Republicans for months, with the incumbent senator calling his same-name challenger a "sham candidate" who was trying to trick voters. Daniel J. Sullivan has denied those allegations and insisted he is genuinely interested in running for Senate.

State officials initially sought to keep him off the ballot, finding that he was trying to confuse voters and arguing his was not a "good-faith candidacy." The Alaska Supreme Court rejected that decision and ruled that the other Sullivan can appear on the ballot. 

Last week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the election from being certified if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses due to "voter confusion" about the dueling Sullivans, in what Attorney General Todd Blanche described as an effort to "put guardrails in place." Asked what he thought about the suit, Mr. Trump told reporters: "Well, I'm the one that said, 'Do it.'"

Nate Adams, a spokesperson for Sen. Dan Sullivan's campaign, said in a statement in reaction to the Times' reporting that "Alaskans deserve the truth."

"Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along," Adams said.

Democrats have denied any role in Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy. A Peltola campaign spokesperson said it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign."

"Mary got in this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who is fighting to lower their costs and put Alaska first, and no tweet or threat from any DC politician will keep her away from that fight," the campaign spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, or DSCC, also said it "is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan."

The spokesperson argued Republicans "have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns." The organization pointed to a man serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York who ran for Alaska's House seat in 2024, and an Arizona man who ran in this year's Alaska Senate primary.