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Alaska Governor Orders Probe Into Alleged Scheme to Recruit Second 'Dan Sullivan'
· Confirmed
In Short: Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into allegations that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign recruited a namesake challenger to Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, according to reports from the Anchorage Daily News and the Los Angeles Times.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into allegations that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign recruited a namesake challenger to Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, according to reports from the Anchorage Daily News and the Los Angeles Times.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that Elisa Rios, a longtime aide to Peltola who was fired amid a staff shakeup, told The New York Times that a Democratic operative from the Lower 48 had sought out Dan Sullivans who could challenge the senator.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that the newspaper obtained text messages between members of Peltola’s campaign discussing recruiting other people with the same name as the two-term Republican incumbent.
Both publications agree that Dunleavy ordered the investigation after a New York Times report detailed an alleged effort by Peltola’s campaign to recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
The Anchorage Daily News quoted Dunleavy as saying, “Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the investigation will be conducted by the Department of Public Safety to determine if the scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.
The Anchorage Daily News also reported that the state Supreme Court allowed the Petersburg Sullivan to remain on the ballot, upholding a lower court’s ruling that found there was not a “preponderance of evidence” that the namesake challenger sought to mislead voters.
Both publications agree that the New York Times report relied on 12 sources, text messages, and documents that allegedly showed members of Peltola's campaign, lawyers for Peltola, and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) pushing to find a spoiler candidate who could potentially siphon votes from Sen. Sullivan.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that Peltola’s campaign denied involvement in the scheme, stating they had “no involvement in either Sullivan campaign.”
The Los Angeles Times also noted that the DSCC denied involvement in any such scheme.
Both publications agree that President Donald Trump called for the criminal prosecution of Mary Peltola and her campaign following the New York Times report.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that Trump called the alleged effort “voter fraud at the highest level” and said Peltola and Daniel J. Sullivan should face prosecution.
Background
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into an alleged effort by Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign to recruit a namesake challenger to Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
What's confirmed
- Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into an alleged effort by U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign and a national Democratic group to influence the Nov. 3 election by encouraging a namesake challenger to U.S. Sen. Dan S.
- “I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted,” Dunleavy, a Republican, said on social media.
- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, discusses allegations his opponent, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mary Peltola, worked with operatives to recruit another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate on ‘Hannity.’ In the wake of a New York Times report detailing an alleged Democrat-linked election scheme by the campaign team of Rep. Mary Peltola that involved the recruitment of a candidate with nearly the exact same name as an incumbent GOP senator, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that he was ordering a probe into the matter.
- Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) ordered an investigation into whether members of Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign should face charges for possible election manipulation regarding “Decoy Dan” Sullivan.
- In a statement, the campaign said it had "no involvement in either Sullivan campaign."
- “Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes,” Dunleavy wrote on X.
- JUNEAU, Alaska — President Donald Trump called for the criminal prosecution of the Democratic candidate running for Senate in Alaska on Wednesday after revelations that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
- He added that anyone or any organization found to have broken the law "must be held accountable."
- President Donald Trump speaks at a midterm rally for Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. by ALEXX ALTMAN-DEVILBISS | The National News Desk ALASKA (TNND) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said early Thursday he was ordering an investigation into an alleged effort to manipulate the state’s Senate race, after a New York Times report said Democrats recruited a candidate whose name closely matches that of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
- The newspaper obtained text messages between members of Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign discussing recruiting other people with the same name as the two-term Republican their candidate was running against.
What's still developing
- In a statement given to US media, the DSCC likewise denied that it had been involved in any such scheme. Peltola earlier this week paused campaigning activities in order to recover after she and her family sustained "minor injuries" in a car crash.
- Federal prosecutors are investigating how Daniel J.
- “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 wrote on Wednesday.
- WASHINGTON – Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Trump administration's lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race and argued that the legal challenge was a necessary step to avoid confusing voters in the closely watched midterm race.
- The New York Times on Wednesday published a blockbuster story claiming that multiple former staffers on the campaign of Alaska Democratic Senatorial nominee Mary Peltola implicated her and others in the effort to confuse voters with decoy “Dan Sullivan” candidates.
- The intention seemed obvious: The false Sullivan is trying to siphon off some votes from the real Sullivan in hopes of benefiting the actual challenger, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.
- Here are our previous reports: Peltola called the attention to the supposed scheme a distraction because yeah, the NYT has such a history of going after Democrats: This is just another distraction.
Sources
- ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videoslink
- Abcnews4link
- Adnlink
- BBClink
- Breitbartlink
- CBS Newslink
- Fox Newslink
- JONATHAN TURLEY – Res ipsa loquiturlink
- Legalinsurrectionlink
- Los Angeles Timeslink
- NBC Newslink
- Oannlink
- PBSlink
- Reason Magazinelink
- Scrippsnewslink
- Thenationaldesklink
- Forbes Breaking News — video link