Democrats have insisted for months that they were not involved in recruiting an Alaska Senate candidate who shares the same name as their Republican opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan.
But that may not be true, according to a bombshell report published Wednesday that claims Democrats led a monthslong scheme to stack the ballot with candidates and recruit other men named Dan Sullivan, all in the hopes of siphoning off votes from the Republican incumbent.
Involved were both Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign staff and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to The New York Times.
A Peltola campaign staffer told the Times that they were asked last summer to find potential candidates named Dan Sullivan. About a year later, a man named Daniel J. Sullivan filed to run for Alaska’s Senate seat.
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The other candidate on the general election ballot, Gerald Hiekes — in Alaska, the top four candidates advance from the primary, regardless of party — said he was also recruited to run by a Midwestern man he could not identify to the Times.
In all, Times reporters spoke with at least a dozen people with knowledge of the Democratic plan to stack Alaska’s ballot with candidates. Similar efforts are common in Alaska and across the country, and are generally considered to be legal.
When reached for comment by The Washington Sun, the DSCC denied involvement and cited a number of other historical ballot-stacking efforts in Alaska that have been tied to Republicans.
“The DSCC is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan,” a spokesperson for the organization told The Sun. “Republicans have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns — including recruiting a prisoner with a New York address to run against Mary Peltola and spending nearly half a million dollars to secure a spot on the ballot in Alaska for an Arizona resident in the Senate race this cycle.”
Daniel J. Sullivan has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Sun throughout the midterm cycle.
The Times also cited text messages between campaign officials and DSCC staff communicating about the plan to spoil Sen. Sullivan’s campaign with other candidates. Peltola did not appear to be included in these texts. Her former campaign manager Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, said she was not directly involved but was “aware” of the plot. Rios contacted the Times last week and asked to retract her statements, the newspaper reported.
The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied being involved in Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign and it has not responded to The Sun’s request for comment.
Since the announcement of Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy, Republicans have accused him of being a spoiler candidate for Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The accusations culminated in a legal challenge against Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign in June, when the Alaska Division of Elections disqualified the non-incumbent candidate from appearing on the open primary election ballot. Alaska officials echoed the allegations that Daniel J. Sullivan was running in bad faith, arguing that his name would confuse voters supporting incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The case rose to the Alaska Supreme Court, where the challenge was struck down and Sullivan was allowed to remain on the primary ballot. He placed third in the primary election, allowing him to advance to the general election in November — although Alaska election officials demarcated Sen. Sullivan as “Dan S. Sullivan (Registered Republican) Incumbent.”
Staff from both the Peltola campaign and the DSCC celebrated Daniel J. Sullivan’s victory in June, according to text messages reported by the Times.
The legal troubles for Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy were renewed shortly after President Donald Trump, who has dubbed the challenger “Decoy Dan,” visited Alaska in October. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the Alaska Division of Elections, again bringing Daniel J. Sullivan’s intentions for running into question.
With Election Day less than a week away, the case has been expedited and a federal judge said Monday that she planned to rule on each party’s motions by late Wednesday afternoon. Early voting for the general election has already begun in Alaska.
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