JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Democratic campaign for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat has joined efforts to put it on the ballot a candidate of the same name like incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan in an effort to confuse voters in a race that could determine which party controls the chamber, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The newspaper obtained text messages between members of Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign discussing recruiting others with the same name as the two-term Republican their candidate was running against. They finally landed on a retired teacher in the small fishing community of Petersburg named Dan J. Sullivan. He made it through the state’s open primary in August and is one of four candidates on the ranked ballot for next Tuesday’s general election.
Dan J. Sullivan long denied he showed up at the request of Democrats and said he had no contact with Peltola’s campaign: “Zero, none, zilch,” he said in June after announcing his candidacy.
He did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday from The Associated Press.
Top state elections official rules on Dan J. Sullivan ineligible to vote after declaring his candidacy, claiming that it had been “filed with the aim of sowing confusion or misleading and thus compromising the fairness or neutrality of the vote”.
The case went to the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled he was qualified run. The American Constitution provides only age, citizenship and residency requirements run for the Senate.
President Donald Trump, who ordered his Justice Department to file a complaint last week, preemptively challenging a Peltola victory due to the presence of runner-up Dan Sullivan, called for legal sanctions against Democrats because of this situation: “Mary Peltola should face legal and political consequences for what she did,” Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media site.
“Alaskans deserve the truth,” said Nate Adams, a spokesman for Senator Sullivan’s campaign. “Mary Peltola, her campaign and senior advisors colluded with the DSCC, national Democratic attorneys and Alaska Democratic operatives to recruit candidates to deliberately confuse and deceive voters.”
Peltola’s campaign, in a statement released Wednesday, said it “was not involved in any of Sullivan’s campaigns.” They issued a similar statement in June after Senator Sullivan questioned the other Sullivan’s candidacy.
Democrats, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, have repeatedly denied involvement in any election fraud.
“DSCC is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan,” the organization said in a statement Wednesday. The Times report said DSCC staffers were in conversation with the Peltola campaign to discuss the second Sullivan.
Legal experts said the report that Democrats appear to be recruiting Dan J. Sullivan in an effort to confuse voters will have no impact on a recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. President Donald Trump headed the department to file a lawsuit, which seeks to suspend the certification of a possible Peltola victory, citing the presence of second-place finisher Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
“It’s a dirty campaign stunt, and it’s a good reason why the Alaska Supreme Court should have allowed the candidate to be removed from the ballot,” said Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame. “But now it’s in the hands of the voters, not the litigation.”
This is not the first time that a candidate’s participation in the Alaska ballot has been called into question. In 2024, the state Democratic Party sued to exclude from the House of Representatives ballot a man with no apparent ties to the state who is serving time in a federal prison in New York. A Divided State Supreme Court allowed him to stay on the ballot. The man works again this yearalso in the House race, and is on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
The Times article on Dan J. Sullivan’s recruitment is based in part on interviews with Peltola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, who was fired in August amid campaign upheaval. The newspaper said she attempted to retract her statement last week. The PA’s efforts to reach Rios were not immediately successful.
As of Monday, 46,204 ballots had already been cast in Alaska, according to AP data. Senator Sullivan is listed on the ballot as a Republican incumbent. The other Sullivan is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation.
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Riccardi reported from Denver.
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