Alaska Governor Orders Criminal Probe Into Senate Ballot Confusion

Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether a coordinated effort to confuse voters in the Alaska Senate race violated state law.

The probe follows a New York Times report detailing how aides to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola attempted to recruit a retired teacher named Dan Sullivan to run against the incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan.

Dunleavy stated that the newspaper's findings support earlier discoveries by the state Division of Elections. He directed officials to determine if criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The governor noted that the evidence will dictate the next steps in the process.

The New York Times reviewed text messages and interviewed twelve individuals who participated in or learned about the plan. The report described a strategy to recruit spoiler candidates to dilute support for the sitting Republican senator. Senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were also linked to the recruitment efforts.

The two men share a first name but have distinct backgrounds. The incumbent is Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The challenger is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher residing in a remote fishing village. The ballot will list both candidates with their full names to distinguish them.

Senator Dan Sullivan called the situation a scandal of the highest order on Fox News. He urged his opponent to come clean. Fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski accused the Democratic campaign of a pattern of lies.

President Donald Trump has demanded that Peltola be barred from the race. He posted on Truth Social that Dan Sullivan has always delivered for Alaska. His administration filed a legal case arguing that the presence of both candidates could confuse voters and delay the certification of results.

The Peltola campaign denies any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Alaskans for Mary said the candidate is fighting to lower costs for residents. The group stated it has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. The DSCC also denied involvement in the alleged scheme.

Previous legal attempts by Republicans to remove the retired teacher from the ballot were rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court. The state uses ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to select multiple candidates if they are uncertain at the ballot box.

Mary Peltola paused her campaign activities earlier this week to recover from minor injuries sustained in a car crash with her family. The midterm elections are scheduled for Tuesday, and the outcome will determine which party controls Congress.