Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has broken a four-year public silence on her personal X account to condemn an alleged scheme by Democrats to recruit a candidate named Dan Sullivan to confuse voters in the state's Senate race. The New York Times reported that members of Mary Peltola’s team helped recruit a candidate with the same name as incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Murkowski stated on her account, @LisaForSenate, that the report revealed “a pattern of lies and coverups” by Peltola. She further asserted that ballot manipulation has no place in electoral processes. “Run and win on your merits: your views, your policy ideas, and your accomplishments,” Murkowski wrote. “By contrast, recruiting candidates to manipulate the field and influence voting outcomes is simply wrong.”
She added, “Alaskans deserve the honest truth from Mary and her campaign,” and that such a “culture of deception” is unsuitable for elections or lawmakers. Murkowski’s previous post on the personal account was dated November 2022, a Thanksgiving message.
In contrast, Murkowski’s official Senate account posts regularly. The senator's critique of Peltola's campaign comes as the state's governor has ordered an investigation into the alleged scheme. The report indicated that Democratic operatives also sought other candidates who could potentially siphon votes from the Republican incumbent. The second "decoy" Sullivan, reportedly a longtime registered nonpartisan, resides in Petersburg.
Sen. Dan Sullivan told Fox News that this alleged scheme reflects a situation where a “far left” candidate “has got nothing to run on.”
Murkowski has previously endorsed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a move supported by her father, former Sen. Frank Murkowski. This endorsement, over three Republican candidates, positions Kreiss-Tomkins as a mathematical favorite in the race, according to the Alaska Beacon. Murkowski was also a proponent of Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, which allows for four-person general election ballots.