Alaska Governor Orders Probe of Senate Race After Spoiler Candidate Report

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy directed the state Department of Public Safety on Wednesday night to investigate whether a scheme involving a second Senate candidate violated state law. The order comes after the New York Times reported that Democratic operatives worked to recruit a non-incumbent named Dan Sullivan. His presence on the ballot, the report suggests, was intended to confuse voters and draw support away from the Republican incumbent, who shares the same name.

The dispute centers on a toss-up U.S. Senate race that could determine control of the chamber. The Times based its story on interviews and communications with attorneys and advisers for Democrat Mary Peltola, the former congresswoman running to flip the seat, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Both the Peltola campaign and the DSCC reiterated their long-standing denials of involvement in the non-incumbent Sullivan’s candidacy after the story published.

Peltola called the reporting a distraction while campaigning in Anchorage on Wednesday. The non-incumbent Sullivan did not respond to requests for comment but has previously stated that running for Senate was his own decision. Republicans quickly seized on the development. Nate Adams, a spokesperson for the incumbent, accused Peltola’s team of gaslighting voters by denying a scheme they allegedly managed. President Donald Trump described the situation as voter fraud at the highest level in an online post.

The Justice Department had already moved to intervene in the race. Last week, officials asked a court to delay the certification of results if the incumbent loses by a small margin. That legal effort cited potential confusion caused by the two Sullivans on the ballot. Election law experts largely criticized the initial case as weak, noting that the Constitution grants states primary control over elections. However, Justice Department officials said Thursday that the new reporting expands their options. They filed an amended complaint citing the Times' investigation.

State officials had previously probed the candidacies, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that the non-incumbent Sullivan could appear on the general election ballot. It remains unclear which specific laws the governor’s new investigation might test. Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has co-authored a book on campaign tactics, noted that such tricks are standard fare in modern politics. She said the internet makes it easy to spread both the trick and the correction.

Some voters compared the situation to Republican spending efforts in support of a Democrat who is a federal prisoner in New York but appears on Alaska’s U.S. House ballot. Reactions in the state were mixed. Some residents expressed frustration that the news cycle was shifting away from other issues. Others were skeptical that voters would be confused, pointing out that the ballot identifies the Republican incumbent.

The state uses a ranked-choice voting system for the general election. Experts noted that if voters are confused, they can rank both Sullivans and leave Peltola unranked. This mechanism may mitigate the impact of the second candidate. Whether voters want to keep the state’s unique election system is also on the general election ballot.

The non-incumbent Sullivan advanced to the general election after Alaska’s nonpartisan primary, which sends the top four vote-getters to the fall ballot. The governor’s order to investigate whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted was issued shortly before Election Day. The investigation will determine if the recruitment efforts crossed legal lines in the state’s unique electoral process.