Peltola campaign texts show effort to recruit second Dan Sullivan for Alaska ballot

Text messages between members of the Mary Peltola campaign reveal an effort to recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. The goal was to place a second Dan Sullivan on the Alaska ballot in a bid to confuse voters in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate. The New York Times reported the findings Wednesday, citing the private exchanges.

The campaign settled on Dan J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from the fishing community of Petersburg. He passed the state’s August open primary and now appears on the ranked vote ballot for Tuesday’s general election. Peltola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, provided details in interviews for the report. She was fired in August during a campaign shakeup. The newspaper said she attempted to retract her comments last week. The Associated Press could not immediately reach her for comment.

Dan J. Sullivan has consistently denied running at the behest of Democrats. In June, after announcing his candidacy, he told reporters he had "Zero, none, zilch" contact with Peltola’s team. He did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday. A top state elections official initially ruled him ineligible, stating his filing was "filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality." The Alaska Supreme Court overruled that decision, determining he met the constitutional requirements of age, citizenship, and residency.

President Donald Trump directed the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit last week to preemptively contest a potential Peltola victory. The suit seeks to halt the certification of her win, citing the presence of the second Sullivan on the ballot. On his social media site Wednesday, Trump called for legal penalties against Democrats. "Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done," he wrote.

Nate Adams, a spokesperson for Sen. Sullivan’s campaign, said Alaskans deserve the truth. He accused Peltola, her senior advisers, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of colluding to recruit candidates designed to deceive voters. Peltola’s campaign issued a statement Wednesday saying it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign." The DSCC also denied involvement in a separate statement, despite reports that its staffers were in text exchanges with the Peltola campaign regarding the second Sullivan.

Legal experts note the new information will not alter the recent Department of Justice lawsuit. Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame, called the recruitment a "dirty campaign trick." He argued the Alaska Supreme Court should have removed the candidate from the ballot but stated the decision now rests with voters rather than the courts. In 2024, a divided state Supreme Court allowed a man serving time in a New York federal prison to remain on the House ballot after the state Democratic Party sued. That candidate is running again in this year’s House race.

As of Monday, 46,204 ballots had been cast in Alaska, according to data from The Associated Press. Sen. Sullivan is listed on the ballot as the Republican incumbent. The other candidate appears as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation listed.