Top campaign aides for Alaska Senate hopeful Mary Peltola were instructed to find individuals named Dan Sullivan to recruit for the race, and the candidate herself was "definitely aware" of these efforts, a report from The New York Times revealed.
The strategy aimed to siphon votes away from incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-Alaska) by creating confusion among voters. According to Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who was ousted in August, there was "a lot of speculation" and voters should have "the full picture" when making their decisions.
Although Rios stated Peltola was not directly involved in the recruitment effort, she was "definitely aware." The campaign's efforts reportedly succeeded in recruiting a retired public school teacher named Dan J. Sullivan, who has been dubbed "Decoy Dan" by critics. He entered the race shortly before the deadline, qualifying for the top four candidates.
Peltola's campaign has denied involvement in recruiting "Decoy Dan." A campaign spokesperson told The Post that "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign" and that the campaign is focused on "lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC."
The report detailed that aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) were also involved in the gambit. The DSCC, however, has denied any involvement.
Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative described as specializing in "shady campaign tactics," is credited with discovering "Decoy Dan." According to Rios, Kurtz described the recruit as someone who "hated Trump" and wanted to help Peltola, with no personal interest in politics.
Text messages reviewed by The New York Times indicated that officials with Peltola's campaign and the DCCC communicated for months about Kurtz's pursuit. Some individuals Kurtz approached reported that he used the alias "Zane."
"Decoy Dan" is also registered as a Republican, a detail that has drawn scrutiny given his past support for Democrats in presidential elections and his attendance at a "No Kings" rally. A magnet of Che Guevara was also reportedly found on his refrigerator.
To mitigate confusion, Alaskan officials have labeled Sen. Sullivan as the incumbent and included candidates' initials on the ballot. Peltola is the sole Democrat on the ballot for the Nov. 3 election, which will be decided by ranked-choice voting. She secured the top spot in the open primary held in August.
Sen. Sullivan holds a slight lead over Peltola in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls. Former President Donald Trump publicly criticized Peltola following the report, suggesting she should be removed from the ballot and calling the situation "A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC."