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Alaska Governor Orders Probe into Peltola Campaign Over Decoy Dan
Confirmed
In Short: Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after a New York Times report alleged efforts to recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The Justice Department has begun issuing subpoenas as part of an ongoing criminal probe into the U.S. Senate race, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The report said it 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.
Reacting to the report, Attorney General Todd Blanche described Sullivan's candidacy and the efforts to recruit him as 'cheating' and 'fraud' and suggested more imminent action from the Justice Department in the coming days.
President Donald Trump called for the criminal prosecution of Peltola and her campaign after revelations that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of the U.S. Senate race in Alaska if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses the contest while another candidate with the same name is on the ballot.
In a statement, the campaign said it had 'no involvement in either Sullivan campaign.'
Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after a New York Times report that people aligned with the campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as her main opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The Republican governor announced the probe Wednesday night, directing the Alaska Department of Public Safety to investigate after a New York Times report detailed an alleged effort involving people connected to Peltola's campaign and national Democrats.
The investigation comes as 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.
The Democratic campaign for Alaska's U.S. Senate seat was involved in efforts to place on the ballot a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan in a bid to confuse voters in a race that could determine which party controls the chamber.
The investigation is part of a broader probe into whether the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to include Dan J. Sullivan's name on the ballot could violate potential federal conspiracy statutes.
What this adds
The investigation is part of an ongoing criminal probe into the U.S. Senate race, with the Justice Department issuing subpoenas.
The New York Times report detailed an alleged effort involving people connected to Peltola's campaign and national Democrats.
Background
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after allegations that they recruited a candidate with the same name as her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan.
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 a New York Times report.
What's confirmed
- The Justice Department has begun issuing a new wave of subpoenas stemming from an ongoing criminal probe of Alaska's U.S. Senate race and alleged efforts by Democrats to recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
- He added that anyone or any organization found to have broken the law "must be held accountable."
- President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in Halloween at the White House. 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.
- READ MORE: Trump calls for prosecution of Alaska Senate candidate Peltola over Sullivan name controversy Dunleavy's order, posted overnight on social media, comes a day after President Donald Trump called for the criminal prosecution of Mary Peltola and her campaign.
- 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.
What's still developing
- Sullivan's candidacy was legal -- even if it was not entirely in "good faith" or an attempt to "confuse and mislead" voters as the Trump administration and Republicans contend.
- "I expect you're going to hear more from the Department of Justice this week as we learn more information," Blanche said.
- “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.
- October 26, 2026 by James Brooks, Alaska Beacon An official with the Anchorage Police Department said Monday that there is no evidence that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola was deliberately targeted in a weekend car accident that injured her and members of her family.