US President Donald Trump has called for the removal and prosecution of Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola after a report alleged that people linked to her campaign discussed recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican Senator Dan Sullivan to potentially confuse voters in Alaska.Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has also announced plans to launch a criminal investigation into whether the alleged scheme violated state election laws.The controversy follows a New York Times report published on Wednesday that cited interviews, text messages and documents indicating that Peltola’s campaign aides and officials linked to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) discussed recruiting candidates named Dan Sullivan to run against the Republican incumbent.Trump called for Peltola and Daniel J Sullivan Jr, a retired schoolteacher who is challenging Senator Sullivan, to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted. In a social media post, he accused Democrats of election fraud and described the alleged operation as voter fraud.Dunleavy said he was directing Alaska’s Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the alleged plan warranted criminal charges or civil action.“Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections,” the governor said, adding that anyone found to have broken the law must be held accountable.The allegations have surfaced days before the November 3 midterm elections, with the Alaska Senate race among the contests that could determine control of the US Senate.
What the report alleged
According to the New York Times, the effort began in 2025, when a Peltola aide was asked to identify Alaskans named Dan Sullivan. The newspaper reported that campaign aides and senior Democratic operatives discussed recruiting candidates who could potentially split support for the Republican senator.The effort eventually focused on Daniel J Sullivan Jr, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, Alaska, who has no previous political experience. He qualified for the November general election after the Alaska Supreme Court overturned a state elections official’s decision to disqualify him from the primary ballot.The official had concluded that his candidacy had been filed with the purpose of confusing or misleading voters. However, the state Supreme Court ruled that he was qualified to run.The Times report cited interviews with Peltola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, and other people familiar with the alleged plan. Rios told the newspaper that Peltola knew about the operation but did not participate directly. The newspaper also reported that Rios later sought to retract her statements.Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement in recruiting either Sullivan candidate. The DSCC has also denied recruiting Daniel J Sullivan Jr, despite the report’s account of discussions between committee staff and Peltola’s campaign.Daniel J Sullivan Jr has maintained that he entered the race independently and had no contact with Peltola’s campaign.
Political and legal fallout
Republican Senator Dan Sullivan’s campaign accused Peltola, her advisers and Democratic operatives of colluding to mislead voters. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has endorsed Sullivan and is a longtime friend of Peltola, also called for an explanation from the Democratic candidate.The controversy comes as the Trump administration pursues a separate legal challenge seeking to block certification of a possible Peltola victory, citing the presence of the second Dan Sullivan on the ballot.However, legal experts said the allegations reported by the Times would not necessarily affect the outcome of that lawsuit. They noted that while recruiting candidates to split an opponent’s vote can be viewed as a dirty political tactic, it is generally legal.The two Sullivans are among four candidates contesting the Alaska Senate seat under the state’s ranked-choice voting system, in which voters rank candidates by preference and votes can be transferred when a candidate is eliminated.Peltola, a former Alaska congresswoman, is challenging Sullivan as Democrats seek to win control of the Senate in the November midterm elections.