by Virginia Grace McKinnon
The campaign of Alaska Democrat Senate candidate Mary Peltola helped recruit Dan J. Sullivan to enter the race to draw votes away from her Republican opponent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
According to the Times, Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager and longtime aide who was fired in August, said Peltola was “definitely aware” of the plot to recruit Dan J. Sullivan, who is running as an independent in the closely watched race that could help decide control of the Senate.
The plot, beginning in the summer of 2025, reportedly involved Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“Alaskan voters need to know,” Rios told the Times. “There was a lot of speculation, and voters should get the full picture when making their decisions.”
“The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race,” the campaign wrote in a statement to the Times.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also told the Times that it had “no involvement” in recruiting the other Sullivan “or any other Republican candidate.” The committee did not immediately respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.
Last Friday, the Justice Department sued Alaska to block certification of the state’s U.S. Senate race, alleging in an Oct. 23 complaint that the presence of Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot caused confusion.
“The sole purpose of [Dan J. Sullivan’s] candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan,” the DOJ complaint said.
A Justice Department source familiar with the matter told the Daily Signal Wednesday that an investigation is ongoing, referring to the Oct. 23 lawsuit.
President Donald Trump said he ordered the lawsuit.
“Well, I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters. “They have two guys around named Dan Sullivan running. So the Democrats put up a guy, never, I don’t think he ever voted before. All of a sudden he decides to run for the Senate and his name is Dan Sullivan. One is Daniel S. One is Daniel J. The Daniel J is the fake and he wants to change his middle initial to Daniel S. But he said this has nothing to do with politics.”
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott told the Daily Signal in a statement on Wednesday, “Peltola will be held accountable this election for her dishonesty and deception. Alaskans will leave Peltola unranked on the ballot because of her dirty tricks. Voters can trust the real Dan Sullivan, and I’m confident he’ll be re-elected.”
Dan J. Sullivan initially entered the race as a Republican. The NRSC sought to remove him from the ballot, claiming in a June letter to Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Carol Beecher, director of the state’s elections division, that Sullivan was not a “good faith” candidate.
The elections division agreed and rejected Sullivan’s candidacy, but the state supreme court reversed the decision upon appeal, the Juneau Empire reported.
Sullivan in August switched his party affiliation from Republican to “undeclared” ahead of the August primary election, the Empire reported.
Sullivan placed fourth in the Aug. 18 Senate primary, receiving just 2.5% of the vote statewide but advancing to the general election as one of the top four vote recipients under Alaska’s ranked-choice process. He will appear on the November ballot with no party affiliation, just above Dan S. Sullivan who is listed as an incumbent Republican.
A poll released by Rasmussen Reports last week showed Peltola ahead of Dan S. Sullivan by two points: 44% to 42%. Data for Progress also showed Peltola ahead of Dan S. Sullivan by three points: 47% to 44%. Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election analyzer, rates the Alaska Senate race a toss-up.
In addition to the Alaska Senate race, Cook Political Report rates six other Senate races as toss-ups, including Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. Republicans currently hold six of these seats.
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Virginia Grace McKinnon is a journalism fellow for the Daily Signal. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Mary Peltola” by Mary Peltola.
