Federal authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations into an alleged effort to confuse Alaska voters by placing a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the US Senate ballot. Michael Heyman, the top federal prosecutor in Alaska, confirmed the investigations at an Anchorage news conference on Friday, October 30.
Heyman cited New York Times reporting suggesting that Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign and national Democrats helped recruit and support Daniel J Sullivan as a sham candidate. The challenger is a retired schoolteacher with no previous political experience. Both he and the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan, qualified for the ballot. Heyman said additional law enforcement resources had been sent to Alaska and investigative work was taking place nationwide.
The Department of Justice also asked a federal judge on Friday to require Alaska election officials to preserve and separate ballots ranking Daniel J Sullivan, allowing investigators to examine whether voter confusion influenced those choices. In another request, the department sought a preliminary injunction preventing certification of the Senate result if the incumbent loses to Peltola because of the other Sullivan’s presence on the ballot.
Heyman declined to identify the possible crimes under investigation. Federal prosecutors rarely acknowledge an ongoing criminal investigation publicly. He said the civil case, filed the previous week, concerned preserving ballots. A person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that authorities had issued subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony or documents, as well as demands to preserve records, after the Times report. Further subpoenas were expected, but their recipients and number were not immediately known.
Peltola denied knowing about the alleged recruitment effort during remarks to supporters at a downtown bar in Juneau on Thursday. She said she had known only about her own candidacy and that of the incumbent. “I am not interested in tricking voters,” she told the gathering.
The contest against the two-term Republican senator is among the consequential races in the following week’s midterm elections. Democrats are targeting Alaska as they seek to regain control of the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats and Democrats hold 47. Recent polling has put Peltola ahead. Republicans have accused Democrats of using the second Sullivan candidacy to divide the incumbent’s supporters and prevent his reelection.
Alaska election authorities tried to disqualify the challenger before the August primary, but the state supreme court allowed him onto the ballot. He subsequently finished among the top four candidates in the nonpartisan primary, alongside Peltola and the incumbent. The general election ballot identifies the senator as Dan S. Sullivan, a registered Republican and incumbent, and the challenger as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy separately announced plans for a criminal investigation after the Times report appeared. He alleged an organized attempt to manipulate the election through candidate recruitment intended to confuse voters. Dunleavy said the reporting substantially supported earlier findings by the state elections board.
President Donald Trump questioned on Thursday whether Peltola could take office if she won. Speaking to reporters before traveling to a South Carolina rally, he also challenged whether she should be permitted to run. Later, while campaigning for Republican Senator Darline Graham, Trump called for Peltola’s removal from the ballot and prosecution.
