Alaska State Senate: Pertola’s aides helped nominate Dan Sullivan, NYT says

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign officials and senior aides at the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee reported Wednesday that they have joined an effort to field Daniel J. Sullivan in the Alaska Senate race in an effort to draw votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Citing interviews, texts and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against Peltola’s campaign, the Times reported that “Mr. Peltola’s team not only worked with those trying to get Mr. Sullivan to run for the Senate, but its efforts were broader.”

The newspaper reported, “The group worked to bring other potential spoilers into the election race, weaken the incumbent’s support, and lead the Democratic Party to victory in one fell swoop.”

Elisa Rios, Mr. Peltola’s former campaign manager, told the Times that although Peltola was not directly involved in the project, he was “definitely aware.”

The paper noted that Rios tried to retract statements he made last week affirming efforts to recruit spoilers.

Peltola’s campaign and DSCC “denied participating in efforts to solicit spoilers for the Alaska vote,” the Times reported.

The report was released days after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit alleging that Sullivan’s non-incumbent campaign was aimed at spoiling the incumbent by confusing voters.

The Justice Department has asked a federal judge in Alaska to “block the certification of the Senate election results that could have been affected by voter confusion, pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were intended for Senator Sullivan.”

The winner of the election could determine whether Democrats regain control of the Senate or whether Republicans maintain their current majority.

President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Justice Department to file a lawsuit.

“I said, ‘Do it,'” Trump said Friday. “They have two guys named Dan Sullivan, so the Democrats fielded one guy.”

“The Alaskan for Mary campaign is not affiliated with either Sullivan campaign. Like Mary’s, our campaign is focused on reducing costs and fixing corrupt systems in Washington, D.C.,” Peltola’s campaign said in a statement to CNBC about the Times article.

“DSCC has no involvement with Dan J. Sullivan,” a DSCC spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

“The Republican Party has a long history of recruiting and fielding candidates to strengthen its own campaigns, including recruiting a New York-domiciled prisoner to run for Mary Peltola and spending nearly $500,000 to secure a spot on the Alaskan ballot for an Arizona resident in this Senate race,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson pointed to several examples in the current and past election cycles in which the Republican Party has pushed third-party or dark-horse candidates to increase the chances of Republican candidates winning races.

Mr. Peltola’s campaign, the DSCC and Alaska state election officials asked Judge Sharon Gleason, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s case, to dismiss the lawsuit by Election Day, Nov. 3. The Alaska League of Women Voters and the advocacy group Common Cause are also seeking to intervene in the lawsuit to oppose the Justice Department’s efforts.

Alaska state officials said the lawsuits and requests for relief cast a cloud over Alaska’s elections, saying the Justice Department “has no authority whatsoever to interfere in state elections, much less to support a strong candidate.”

State officials said in a court filing that the Alaska Department of Elections “took significant steps to distinguish” the Sullivans on the ballot so that “voters could easily determine which candidate was which.”

Judge Gleason fast-tracked the case Monday night, increasing the possibility of a decision on whether to dismiss the case in U.S. District Court in Anchorage by Election Day.

Daniel J. Sullivan won a legal battle that ended with the Alaska Supreme Court allowing him to participate in the nonpartisan primary ballot, over the objections of state election officials who argued that his presence would confuse voters.

He received enough votes in that contest to earn his spot as one of the four candidates listed on the general election ballot.

His name is spelled out on the ballot as “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.” There are no other words next to it.

Senator Sullivan is listed as “Sullivan, Dan” just below his name. S. The words “Registered Republican, Incumbent” are written in parentheses next to his name.

Mr. Peltola is a former U.S. congressman and the only Democrat on the vote.

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates based on their preferences. This method would allow voters to rank both Sullivans as choices, and votes for the non-incumbent could be transferred to the incumbent senator if the non-incumbent was eliminated in the first round of counting.

The newspaper reported that Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who the newspaper reported was fired in August, said that “Alaska voters need to know” about efforts to recruit others to the race.

“There’s a lot of speculation and voters should look at the big picture when making decisions,” Rios was quoted as saying.

Rios told the Times last week that she wanted to retract her earlier statements.

“As discussed in our phone call earlier today, I would like to confirm that you have retracted all statements you have made regarding the 2026 Alaska Senate race in connection with the articles you have written or not written,” Rios wrote, according to the Times. “I do not intend to be the source of any stories in any capacity.”

The paper said it informed Ms. Rios that she would be participating in the story and noted that her interview was “consistent with other reporting in the Times.”

Read the Times report here.