In a story "too juicy" for even the liberal New York Times to pass up, Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign, working with national Democratic operatives, reportedly orchestrated an effort to manipulate Alaska's 2026 Senate race by recruiting candidates who could siphon votes away from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The scheme allegedly included searching voter records to find another man named Dan Sullivan, recruiting additional Republican candidates to divide GOP support, pressuring a progressive Democrat to withdraw so a Republican could take his place on the ballot, and arranging outside financial support for candidates who could weaken Sullivan's chances.
The Times' investigation also describes discussions about creating a new MAGA political party to attract conservative candidates and further split Republican voters.
The effort involved senior Peltola campaign advisers, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) officials, political consultants and attorneys, with text messages, interviews and campaign finance records providing evidence of the alleged coordination.
Peltola's campaign and the DSCC deny recruiting candidates or participating in the scheme, but now there are two Dan Sullivans against one Peltola on Tuesday's ballot.
American Family Radio talk host Jenna Ellis recently told "Today's Issues" that the Department of Justice is ready to challenge the results.
"The DOJ has sued the Alaska election officials in a civil case seeking to block the certification under certain circumstances if Senator incumbent Republican Sullivan loses," she reported.
A second lawsuit from the Department of Justice (DOJ) is in the works.
"ABC is reporting that a separate DOJ criminal investigation into the circumstances has been active for months, but no charges are reported," Ellis added.
She said those charges could come, again, if incumbent Sullivan loses.
As Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) looks into whether criminal charges or civil action at the state level are warranted, Ellis said Alaska should have, but did not, make an adjustment to the ballot to make it abundantly clear which Sullivan is which.
According to the Alaska Division of Elections, the candidates are listed alphabetically. The listings for U.S. senator are Gerald L. Heikes (Republican), certified write-ins Sidney "Sid" Hill (undeclared) and Heather McElwain (Libertarian), Mary Peltola (Democrat), Dan S. Sullivan (Republican) and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. (undeclared).
"Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is identified as the Republican incumbent, and the other candidate is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.," Ellis noted.
Nothing can be done to remove so-called "Decoy Dan" from the ballot.
"There's no law disqualifying a candidate just because they share the same name or because officials suspect a bad move," the legal expert explained.
In a similar case, former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles recruited and paid a man named Alexis Rodriguez to run as an independent against Democratic incumbent José Javier Rodriguez, allegedly to confuse voters and siphon votes away from the Democrat in Florida's 2020 state Senate race.
The candidate received more than 6,000 votes, and the Republican challenger won by just 32 votes. In that case, Artiles was convicted of three felonies related to illegal campaign contributions and election-related misconduct and sentenced to 60 days in county jail and five years of probation.
