Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign is under fire after a New York Times report Wednesday that it played a role in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan — a Republican who almost has the same name as incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan — as part of an effort to sow confusion and ultimately benefit Peltola’s campaign.
The Times report said it relied on 12 sources, text messages and documents that allegedly showed members of Peltola’s campaign, lawyers for Peltola and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee contributed to pushing Dan J. Sullivan, a Republican on Alaska’s four-way ballot, to run.
The Times said the effort to find a spoiler candidate — who could potentially siphon votes from Sen. Sullivan and benefit Peltola — was internally referred to as the ballot composition project.
Alaskans for Mary, the campaign committee for Peltola, said through a spokesperson on Wednesday that it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.”
The DSCC told ABC News in a statement that it was “not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.”
“Republicans have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns,” a DSCC spokesperson wrote in the statement, detailing an instance when Peltola ran for reelection in the House in 2024 and the state Republican Party supported an effort by a Democratic House candidate and inmate in New York federal prison to stay on the ballot, challenging Peltola.
Peltola finished first in Alaska’s August primary with 49.5% of the vote and Sen. Sullivan was second with 41.4%. Dan J. Sullivan was third with 2.5% of the vote and Democrat David Leslie finished with 1.1%. Leslie later dropped out of the race and Republican Gerald Heikes, who finished fifth in the primary with 1%, moved into the fourth spot on the November ballot.
On the general election ballot, Sen. Sullivan is listed as Dan S. Sullivan, a registered Republican and it is noted that he is the incumbent. The other Sullivan is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party affiliation.
In response to the Times report, President Donald Trump said in a social media post Wednesday afternoon that Peltola should “suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done,” and that she and Dan J. Sullivan should be kicked off the ballot. The president also said Peltola engaged in “election fraud.”
“Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the Ballot,” Trump wrote.
ABC News has reached out to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign for comment on the New York Times’ report. ABC News also reached out to the Alaska Department of Elections for comment.
Alaska courts evaluated the dispute over Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy and found nothing illegal about his bid to be on the ballot — even if it was not entirely in “good faith” or an attempt to “confuse and mislead” as the Trump administration and Republicans contend.
Ballot-stacking tactics are common in politics and are widely considered legal, the New York Times reported.
Former Peltola staffer Elisa Rios told the Times about the reported recruitment effort, saying Peltola wasn’t directly involved but that she was “definitely aware.”
However, the Times also reported that Rios later requested a retraction of the statements she gave the newspaper, though she did not disclose a reason.
Rios was also reportedly fired from the campaign this past summer, just days before the primary. At the time, the Peltola campaign told ABC News the “campaign has undergone staffing updates as we transition into the general election” but did not comment on Rios specifically.
For months, Republicans have claimed that Dan J. Sullivan was pursued as a candidate in order to confuse Alaskan voters and potentially peel away voters from the incumbent GOP senator.
In a statement on Wednesday, Nate Adams, campaign spokesperson for incumbent Sen. Sullivan said that “Alaskans deserve the truth” and claimed that Peltola and her campaign “have spent months gaslighting Alaskans” in an effort to “deceive” voters.
The Department of Justice has an active criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy dating back several months, ABC News has reported.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Alaska Department of Law said the Times’ story confirmed its initial concerns about Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy, but it had no impact on the DOJ litigation.
“Placing candidates on the ballot is a matter of state law, not federal law,” it said. “The Alaska Supreme Court ordered the Division to place Daniel J. on the primary election ballot and he advanced to the general election under Alaska law as the third-place candidate.”
“The Division is bound by the Alaska Supreme Court’s order and is committed to running a fair election and assisting voters as needed,” it said.
The Trump administration preemptively filed a lawsuit last week to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if Sen. Sullivan narrowly loses, citing voter confusion with two Dan Sullivans on the ballot.
The federal judge handling that case signaled considerable skepticism of DOJ’s legal strategy on Monday.
District Judge Sharon Gleason highlighted the last-minute nature of the government’s actions, especially as Alaskans have already begun casting their ballots.
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