Alaska’s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered a formal state investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola’s U.S. Senate campaign following disclosures that her team helped recruit candidate names designed to draw votes away from the incumbent Republican senator. The directive, announced overnight on social media, aligns with mounting pressure from federal officials and national party leaders just days before an election that could determine control of the Senate.
Peltola is challenging Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan in the upcoming Nov. 3 election. The controversy escalated after published reporting revealed that Peltola’s campaign worked with strategists to recruit individuals to run for the Senate—including a retired Petersburg teacher who shares the incumbent’s name, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The state Supreme Court previously upheld the ballot eligibility of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., and he has denied running at the behest of Democrats.
Governor Dunleavy stated that the reporting provided new evidence of an effort to mislead voters and reinforced earlier findings by state election officials regarding Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy. “Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections,” the governor wrote.
President Donald Trump called for Peltola’s prosecution and removal from the ballot in a series of social media posts, accusing the campaign of high-level voter fraud. Speaking to reporters before leaving for a rally in South Carolina, Trump declined to clarify whether Peltola should be seated if she wins, stating that it was hard to believe she would be allowed to run. Vice President JD Vance similarly condemned the effort during a Texas campaign trip, accusing Peltola of attempting to steal the Senate seat.
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At President Trump’s direction, the U.S. Justice Department has already filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election results under specific conditions if Senator Sullivan loses, citing potential voter confusion. Attorney General Todd Blanche told television viewers that the department expects to examine incoming information further, characterizing the tactic as an attempt to siphon votes from the incumbent.
Peltola dismissed the allegations during a campaign stop in Soldotna, calling the controversy a distraction from policy issues, including the incumbent senator’s record. Representatives for Alaskans for Mary, her campaign organization, stated via email that the campaign had no involvement with either Sullivan candidate and had not made federal court assertions about how Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy originated. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also denied involvement with Daniel J. Sullivan.
According to the published reports, which drew on internal documents, text messages, and interviews, the Peltola campaign pursued an internal project known as “ballot composition.” Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who departed during an August staff shake-up, stated that the operation began in the summer of 2025 with assistance from veteran Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz. Rios noted that while Peltola was not directly managing the project, she was aware of it. The reporting indicated that campaign staffers were instructed to find individuals named Dan Sullivan in Alaska, leading to the recruitment of the Petersburg resident.
Alaska’s other U.S. Senator, Lisa Murkowski, issued a public statement demanding that Peltola tell the truth about the alleged ballot-stacking effort. Murkowski asserted that while such tactics are sometimes dismissed as modern political strategy, they have no place in a fair electoral process. Nate Adams, a spokesperson for Senator Sullivan’s campaign, similarly criticized the operation for failing to act in good faith with voters.
Political observers and historical records note that similar ballot-maneuvering tactics have been utilized across party lines in various U.S. elections. During Alaska’s primary cycle, a GOP-aligned political action committee spent funds to elevate left-leaning fringe candidates to draw votes from Peltola, and state Republicans previously supported a third-party candidate effort during her 2024 House campaign. Similar third-party and spoiler efforts have been documented in recent election cycles in states including Ohio and Minnesota.
