House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer launched an investigation on Thursday into an alleged scheme operated by Mary Peltola’s campaign and other Democratic operatives to recruit a U.S. Senate candidate with the same name as Alaska’s Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The plot, revealed on Wednesday by The New York Times, was part of an apparent bid to siphon votes away from the incumbent senator. Ballot-stacking is widely considered to be legal and is a common tactic in Alaska, which uses ranked-choice voting and often has ballots with many candidates.
But Republicans, just days before next week’s midterm elections, are alleging that Peltola’s campaign and Alaska Democrats may have broken the law in some way by convincing the second Dan Sullivan — listed on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan — to run.
“Democrats are the party of fraud,” Comer said in a statement. “Knowing they can’t win on the issues, Democrats schemed to rig the U.S. Senate election in Alaska by deliberately confusing voters.”
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For months, Republicans, including President Donald Trump, had said Daniel J. Sullivan’s appearance on the ballot was a ploy by the Democratic Party to help Peltola’s chances on Election Day. But Peltola, her campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Daniel J. Sullivan have all repeatedly denied any involvement or knowledge of the scheme.
The Times spoke with sources connected to Peltola’s campaign and Democratic operatives who had knowledge of a plan to find and recruit Dan Sullivans to appear on the ballot. The effort was said to involve secretive trips to communities across Alaska and operatives making pitches to Dan Sullivans and others to enter the race, according to the newspaper.
Responding to the revelations on Wednesday at a rally, Peltola said that the entire situation was a distraction from the kitchen-table issues she is trying to base her campaign around.
“This is just another distraction. It’s another diversion,” Peltola said. “Every day it’s some new ‘look over here’ moment.”
Comer is demanding transcribed interviews with two individuals cited in the Times’ report: Elisa Rios, a former campaign manager for Peltola who attempted to retract her statements before publication, and Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative who was also reportedly involved in the efforts to recruit other Dan Sullivans.
“Chairman Comer emphasizes that if they fail to appear voluntarily, the Committee will evaluate the use of compulsory process,” a press release announcing the investigation said.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday he believes Peltola and Daniel J. Sullivan should be pulled from the ballot and prosecuted. Before the Times released its report Wednesday, the Department of Justice had already filed a lawsuit to stop the certification of the election results if Dan Sullivan, the incumbent Republican, lost the race.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) also directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to launch a probe into the alleged recruitment plot to determine whether it “violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.”
“Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes,” Dunleavy wrote early hours of Thursday morning on X.
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