JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered state police to investigate Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign after a report that people aligned with it helped recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, CBS News reported.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that a Democratic operative who worked with Peltola’s campaign and national Democrats encouraged Daniel J. Sullivan to run, citing text messages and interviews.
Dunleavy said he ordered the Department of Public Safety to “investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.” He later said the probe “may, in fact, impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate.”
Peltola told supporters in Juneau that she “knew nothing about” the other Sullivan and is “not interested in tricking voters.” Her campaign called Dunleavy’s move a “threat to overrule the will of Alaskan voters.”
President Donald Trump told reporters he thinks Peltola and the other Sullivan “should be prosecuted.”
State officials had tried to keep the second Sullivan off the ballot, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled he could appear. He has denied trying to confuse voters. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, and the ballot lists the incumbent as a Republican while the other Sullivan has no party listed.
Sources: CBS News, Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
