President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for Democrat Mary Peltola to drop out of Alaska's Senate race and face prosecution after a New York Times report that aides to her campaign helped recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.1,3,4,6
The report added a new dispute to a tight race for the Senate seat held by the incumbent Sullivan, where the presence of another Dan Sullivan on the November ballot could confuse voters and affect the outcome. The Times said the effort was intended to confuse voters, which Peltola's campaign denies involvement in and for which Trump offered no evidence.1,3
The Times reported that Peltola campaign aides worked with veteran Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz, described as experienced in ballot-related political tactics. A Peltola staff member was reportedly told to search for every Dan Sullivan in the state, and the search located Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who registered as a Republican shortly before filing to run, according to the Times.3
Dan J. Sullivan previously said he voted for Democrats in the last three presidential elections. He later changed his party registration to undeclared and will appear on November's ballot without a political party label.3
Trump responded in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon, writing, "It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election, thereby taking votes away from the REAL Senator, Dan Sullivan," Trump said. He added, "The Democrats' false statements were made under oath in Federal Court. Therefore, they perjured themselves, and should be liable for very serious consequences," Trump said.3
In the same post, Trump wrote, "Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done, A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the Ballot," Trump said. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday as he prepared to fly to Ohio, and later while rallying in Chillicothe, he called the matter "voter fraud at the highest level." Trump said, according to the reports of his remarks, "It turned out it was a scheme by the Democrats. That's what they do best: They cheat," Trump said. Axios noted that Trump offered no evidence to support his claims that Peltola committed election fraud.1,3,5,6,2
A spokesperson for Alaskans for Mary said in a Wednesday night email, "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 spokesperson said. The spokesperson added, "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign," the spokesperson said.3
Peltola called the Times report a distraction during a Wednesday campaign stop. "Nobody's waking up worried about ballot composition. Not even me. I'm worried about my bills. I'm worried about affordability in health care," Peltola said. The Hill reported that Trump criticized Senate Democrats and Peltola's campaign amid allegations that the two worked together to put a spoiler candidate on the ballot in an effort to boost their party in the Alaska Senate race.3,5
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into Peltola's campaign on Wednesday in response to the Times report. "Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support," Dunleavy said in a post on X. "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections," he said.3
The dispute comes as the Trump administration has sued Alaska to delay certification of the Senate election results if the incumbent Sullivan narrowly loses, pending an investigation into possible voter confusion. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have sought to intervene in the lawsuit and asked a federal judge to dismiss it, and the ACLU, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause are also seeking to join the case. The campaign confirmed that no assertions have been made in federal court about how Dan J. Sullivan's candidacy came to be or who was involved in his decision to run.3
Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference.3
