Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola's U.S. Senate campaign, citing allegations that the campaign recruited a retiree with the same name as Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan to run as a decoy. The probe, announced Wednesday, will examine whether the campaign engaged in illegal activity, potentially leading to criminal charges or civil penalties.
This development came shortly after former President Donald Trump publicly denounced the scheme as "voter fraud at the highest level" and called for Peltola to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted. Trump made these remarks en route to a rally in Ohio, urging for the "decoy" candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, to also be removed from the ballot.
The alleged plot, revealed by The New York Times, involved senior advisers from Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) reportedly identifying and recruiting a retiree named Dan J. Sullivan. The retiree resides in a small Alaskan fishing village and shares the same first and last name as the incumbent senator.
Both candidates named Dan Sullivan are set to appear on the ballot alongside Peltola and a fourth candidate, Gerald Heikes, in the upcoming election.
Alaska's Republican Governor Dunleavy stated on X that deceiving voters is an attack on election integrity, vowing accountability for any lawbreakers. The Governor's office confirmed the investigation into whether the Peltola campaign should face legal repercussions.
Earlier, Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested on Fox News that while the scheme might not technically violate any laws, it should. The Justice Department, acting on Trump's directive, had previously filed a lawsuit asking that the election not be certified if Senator Sullivan loses, though the suit did not specify any illegal acts.
The lawsuit accuses Daniel J. Sullivan, who reportedly voted for Democrats in recent presidential elections and for Peltola in her previous House races, of attempting to mislead Alaskans into believing he is the incumbent senator. Chief Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court in Alaska has expedited the case, setting a deadline for federal lawyers to respond to a motion to dismiss.
Judge Gleason also noted the timing of the lawsuit, which came after Alaskans had already begun voting, and nearly four months after the state's top court approved Daniel J. Sullivan's placement on the ballot.
The Peltola campaign and the DSCC have sought to join the legal proceedings. On Wednesday, the administration withdrew its objection, citing the Times report as evidence of a broad scheme to deceive voters with a false candidate. Peltola, however, has dismissed the revelations as a distraction during a campaign rally.
A spokesperson for Senator Sullivan accused Peltola's campaign of misleading Alaskans for months while denying the existence of the very scheme they were executing. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski commented that ballot-stacking tactics are unacceptable in elections and accused the campaign of dishonesty and a subsequent cover-up.
Conversely, some Democrats have argued that ballot-stacking is a common practice in American politics, pointing to instances where Republican-aligned groups have supported ostensibly opposing candidates in various states, including Alaska. Lauren French, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC, highlighted a Republican-linked super PAC that reportedly invested significantly in promoting Democratic and Green Party candidates during Alaska's Senate primary earlier this year.