Alaska governor orders probe into Democratic campaign's alleged links to same-name candidate

Alaska governor orders probe into Democratic campaign's alleged links to same-name candidate

Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy said he was acting on claims in a news report

Alaska’s Republican governor has ordered an inquiry into an alleged “scheme” meant “to manipulate Alaska’s elections”.

Governor Mike Dunleavy said he was responding to a report in the news.

The story said the team of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola worked with people who tried to recruit a man to enter the Senate race who shares the same name as Peltola’s opponent, Dan Sullivan.

Sullivan, the incumbent senator, and other Republicans have accused Democrats of trying to mislead voters. President Donald Trump has called for Peltola to be barred.

Peltola’s team denies any wrongdoing, or that it encouraged the second Dan Sullivan to run in the close contest.

For his part, the second Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher who lives in a remote fishing village, denies any connection to the Peltola campaign. Although he has given few interviews, he told the NYT, external in August that he was running in good faith as a moderate Republican, even though he had voted for Peltola in earlier contests.

The ballot paper is expected to list the two men as Dan S Sullivan, who will be described as the incumbent Republican senator, and Daniel J Sullivan Jr.

Senator Dan Sullivan told Fox News on Wednesday night that Peltola should “come clean” and called it a scandal of the highest order.

His fellow Republican senator in Alaska, Lisa Murkowksi, accused the Democratic campaign of a “pattern of lies”.

Analysts consider the Alaska race one of the closest in the upcoming US midterm elections, which will determine which party controls Congress. Americans go to the polls nationwide on Tuesday.

Earlier Republican attempts to remove that Sullivan, the retired teacher, from the ballot have already been rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court.

But Dunleavy’s statement, which did not name the Peltola campaign, said the NYT reporting backed findings by the state Division of Elections earlier this year.

“I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted,” he wrote. “The evidence will determine what happens next.”

The NYT report alleged that people tied to Peltola’s campaign, along with senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), worked to recruit Sullivan the schoolteacher to run in the Senate race.

This was part of a wider effort to encourage other would-be “spoiler” candidates to enter the race and split support for the sitting Republican senator, the newspaper reported.

The paper said it had reviewed text messages and interviewed 12 people who participated in or were told about the plan, or who were would-be candidates the team tried to recruit.

In a series of Truth Social posts, Trump also cited the report and made a range of allegations against Peltola, arguing she should be removed from the ballot. He repeated his endorsement of Dan S Sullivan, the incumbent Republican senator, writing: “Dan is a GREAT man, has ALWAYS delivered for Alaska.”

His administration previously filed a legal case aimed at blocking certification of the result if the Trump-backed candidate loses, arguing that having both Sullivans on the ballot could confuse voters.

Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system means voters could choose both Sullivans if they are uncertain at the ballot box.

The fight threatens to delay the full picture of nationwide results after the midterm elections. The ultimate question of which party controls Congress will have a major impact on the final two years of Trump’s presidency.

A statement from an Alaskans for Mary spokesperson, written before Dunleavy’s call for an investigation, said: “Mary got in this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who is fighting to lower their costs and put Alaska first, and no tweet or threat from any DC politician will keep her away from that fight.

“The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.”

In a statement to US media, the DSCC also denied involvement in any such scheme.

Peltola earlier this week paused campaigning to recover after she and her family suffered “minor injuries” in a car crash.