Peltola Denies Knowledge of 'Decoy Dan' Scheme; Sullivan Claims She's 'Still Lying'

Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola stated on Thursday that she had no prior knowledge of a purported scheme to recruit individuals with the same name as her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, to run in the election. Sullivan, however, told Fox News that Peltola is "still lying" about the situation.

Peltola addressed supporters in Juneau, asserting, "I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters. I know I can beat Dan Sullivan."

In a separate interview with Fox News, Sullivan characterized the alleged actions by Peltola's campaign as "the most corrupt action you could take." He claimed the strategy was conceived by Peltola's advisors to "cheat" and ensure voters would "throw away their votes."

"This was a secret project that they had. And then they worked on it for over a year. And then she consistently lied about it," Sullivan said. "What's amazing to me is how consistently and casually everyone involved in this, from Kirsten Gillibrand and Schumer down to Peltola and her advisors, and everybody in between lied about this directly to the Alaskan people."

The New York Times reported that Peltola's campaign, along with senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, allegedly orchestrated the scheme with the aim of confusing voters by having two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot, thereby drawing support away from the incumbent Republican senator.

The Justice Department is seeking to delay the certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate election results due to the presence of two individuals named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. The incumbent senator is listed as "Sullivan, Dan S.," while the other candidate, a retired teacher, is listed as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.," whom critics refer to as "Decoy Dan."

Sullivan told Fox News correspondent Matt Finn that the alleged scheme demonstrates Peltola's "disdain" for the people of Alaska. "Think about it. Her first big move as a candidate, she hadn't announced her candidacy yet, was to rig the system and work together to cheat and to recruit a candidate whose sole purpose, we all know now, was to confuse Alaskans to rig the vote for her," Sullivan stated. "It's the biggest scandal in Alaskan electoral history by far."

Sullivan also expressed confidence in his electoral prospects, stating, "Mary Peltola and her campaign and the Democrats in D.C. and Alaska think the Alaskan people are dumb. We're not dumb. And this is going to have a huge impact on the election. We're going to win."