Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday night ordered the state Department of Public Safety to investigate whether Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign broke state law in the effort to put a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot, the Juneau Independent reported.
“I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted,” Dunleavy wrote.
The order came hours after the New York Times reported that Peltola campaign staff and national Democratic operatives worked to recruit spoiler candidates against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, including a retired Petersburg teacher named Dan J. Sullivan. Self Reliance Central covered that report on Thursday.
What Dunleavy said
Dunleavy wrote that the Times story “substantially supports the Division’s findings,” a reference to the state Division of Elections, whose director tried earlier this year to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot as a sham candidate. The Alaska Supreme Court overruled her.
“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” Dunleavy wrote. “Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.” He added, “Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable.”
The governor did not name specific statutes.
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. The Alaska Division of Elections investigated these very concerns in June of this year. The new reporting substantially supports the Division’s findings. I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The evidence will determine what happens next. Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections. Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable.
— Governor Mike Dunleavy (@GovDunleavy) October 29, 2026
Congress and the White House weigh in
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has opened his own inquiry, sending letters seeking interviews with former Peltola campaign manager Elisa Rios and Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz, Conservative Institute reported, citing Just the News. Rios was a central source for the Times.
President Trump told reporters he believes Peltola and the other Sullivan should be prosecuted. “They said they didn’t do it, and they did do it, and they got caught,” he said, according to the same report. Asked about the Justice Department’s lawsuit over the race, he said, “Well, I’m the one that said, ‘Do it.'”
That suit asks a federal court to block certification if Sen. Sullivan loses by fewer votes than Dan J. Sullivan receives. Peltola’s campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the state have all moved to dismiss it, Fox Newsreported.
Peltola: “Not even me”
At a campaign stop in Soldotna, Peltola brushed the issue aside. “Nobody’s waking up worried about ballot composition. Not even me,” she said. Her campaign says it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign,” and the DSCC says it “is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.”
“Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along,” said Nate Adams, a spokesman for Sen. Sullivan. “Alaskans deserve the truth.”
More than 46,000 Alaskans had already voted as of Monday, according to AP figures reported by Fox 5 Las Vegas.
The bottom line
According to the Times, Peltola’s campaign used something it called the “ballot composition project.” Her answer now is that nobody cares about ballot composition. Every Alaskan who meant to vote for the senator and marked the other Sullivan by mistake should care, and so should anyone who wants honest elections.
Dunleavy did what a governor should do. His own election officials flagged this candidacy as a sham months ago, a court overruled them, and now there is reporting backed by text messages that points to the people who set it up. A state investigation is the proper next step, and Comer’s committee is right to want Rios and Kurtz under oath.
Peltola’s campaign denies everything. If that’s true, it should welcome the investigators and turn over its texts. Alaskans should know the answer before the results are certified.