While many people saw trick-or-treaters knocking on their doors this weekend, some in Southeast Alaska got a visit from the FBI instead. Agents were monitoring donors to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign for U.S. Senate as part of a federal investigation.
In St. Petersburg, Barry Bracken was one of those donors. He has known Dan J. Sullivan for over 40 years. When Sullivan announced his campaign for U.S. Senate this summer, Bracken, an independent voter, was one of the first to donate.
He said he was surprised Friday when two plainclothes federal agents rang his doorbell and identified themselves as FBI. They told Bracken they were investigating voter fraud.
“They basically asked me if I had voluntarily donated to Dan,” Bracken said. “And I said yes, and, perhaps a little sarcastically, I made the comment that I wouldn’t have donated to the other Dan Sullivan.”
The FBI’s visits to donors in Petersburg, as well as Sitka and Juneau, come amid growing federal focus on the Alaska election, just days before the Nov. 3 vote. Alaska federal prosecutor Michael Heyman on Friday cited a “surge” in FBI resources aimed at the state following a New York Times article alleging that Democrats had recruited Dan J. Sullivan as a spoiler candidate for the Senate race.
The St. Petersburg Sullivan has the same first and last name as Alaska’s Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is running for re-election in a closely watched race that could impact which party takes control of the Senate. The Trump administration filed a lawsuit to block certification of the election results if incumbent Sullivan narrowly lost the race, citing potential confusion among voters. A U.S. district judge dismissed that suit Sunday.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
Many donors who were visited by the FBI this weekend – during their interviews with KFSK – described their interactions with agents as “brief” and “professional” but said it still felt like voter harassment.
“The more I think about it, the angrier I get, and it’s a waste of taxpayer money,” Bracken said.
Paul Johnsen is an independent voter in St. Petersburg who donated $500 to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign.
“I think it goes hand in hand with interference, sort of generated by (the) Trump administration,” Johnsen said.
He said the FBI asked him only a few questions during their visit Saturday: whether he intended to donate to a Senate campaign and which Dan Sullivan he intended to donate to.
“I said ‘Petersburg Dan Sullivan’ and I think that’s all they wanted to know, and they left,” Johnsen said.
Other donors to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign also told KFSK they were not confused and knew who they were giving money to.
“It seems like a waste of time and resources,” said Democrat Erica Kludt-Painter, who spoke to the FBI at her home in St. Petersburg.
“People may or may not like the way Dan J. Sullivan entered the race or is running his campaign, but he has a legal right to be on the ballot,” she said. “This has already been litigated or decided, and I, as a voter in the state of Alaska, have the right to donate to any campaign I want. And I have the right to vote for whoever I want, without feeling threatened by our own government.”
Linda Slaght, a Dan J. Sullivan donor and St. Petersburg resident, has not been contacted by the FBI but said she made a second donation after hearing about the FBI visits.
“This is obviously election interference,” she said. “And there’s probably an element of voter intimidation because even though a lot of people voted early, a lot of us are waiting to vote on Tuesday, and I really feel like they’re trying to put their thumb on the scale,” Slaght said.
She said the local Sullivan has endured a lot during this election cycle.
“Because of all this harassment, he had to spend a lot of his money on legal fees just to get the right to appear on the ballot,” she said. “And I think he had a good message to share, but he couldn’t get it out because he’s been busy fighting all these false allegations.”
The FBI visits are just the latest in a series of Dan Sullivan-related controversies that have brought national attention to the small island town of Petersburg this year.
KFSK contacted Dan J. Sullivan and he declined to comment.
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