Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation Wednesday into whether efforts by Democrats to recruit a same-name challenger to Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan violated state law.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that staff for Democrat Mary Peltola, who is challenging Sullivan, and other Democratic aides secretly pushed a retired Petersburg teacher named Dan J. Sullivan to run against the incumbent senator in hopes of improving Peltola’s chances. Peltola has denied the allegation.
In a post on social media Wednesday evening, Dunleavy, a Republican, said the report represented “disturbing” evidence of an effort to “manipulate Alaska’s elections” to “deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes.” He directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the “scheme” violated state law and whether criminal charges or civil penalties were warranted.
“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” he said. “Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.”
Dunleavy’s call for an investigation comes five days before Election Day, with early voting in Alaska already underway. It followed President Donald Trump’s demands that Peltola be criminally prosecuted. Trump, Dunleavy and Sen. Sullivan are close allies who campaigned together in Wasilla earlier this month. The Associated Press, citing an unnamed source, reported Thursday that the Justice Department had issued a number of new subpoenas and was preparing more in an ongoing investigation of the Petersburg Sullivan’s candidacy.
In his post, Dunleavy did not say what laws may have been broken or who the state’s investigation would target. Several legal experts said the facts outlined in the Times report did not appear to add up to a crime.
Dunleavy says revelations may be ‘tip of iceberg’
In an interview on Fox News, Dunleavy said the Petersburg Sullivan should not be on the ballot.
“We knew there was something going on there, but we're also somewhat surprised by the revelations, and we now believe that that's probably just the tip of the iceberg,” Dunleavy said.
He said state officials would be “following up on investigations and discussions” with Dan J. Sullivan.
The Petersburg Sullivan previously denied links to the Peltola campaign and hasn’t responded to inquiries since the publication of the Times story.
The Alaska Division of Elections initially sought to remove the Petersburg teacher from the ballot ahead of the August primary election, saying he had filed to run “for the purpose of confusing or misleading voters.” The Alaska Supreme Court rejected the claim and ordered he be placed on the ballot.
Then last week, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit seeking to block the certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if Sen. Sullivan narrowly loses, saying Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy was intended to confuse voters and benefit Peltola.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation will handle the probe ordered by Dunleavy, said Department of Public Safety spokesperson Austin McDaniel. He declined to say what the investigation would focus on.
“We recognize that Alaskans want and deserve fact-based answers surrounding these allegations, and we are committed to providing accurate information as the investigation progresses,” McDaniel said. “However, to protect the integrity of this active investigation, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”'
‘Unsavory isn’t always illegal’
The vagueness of the governor’s announcement of an investigation is “peculiar,” said Scott Kendall, an Alaska attorney who once served as chief of staff for independent Gov. Bill Walker.
Democrats’ conduct outlined in the Times’ investigation was “sordid,” “gross” and “unethical,” Kendall said, but not necessarily criminal.
“The story lacks facts that would lead, in my mind, to criminal charges,” he said. “Unsavory isn't always illegal.”
Others said they, too, were puzzled by the suggestion the findings added up to a violation of state law.
“I'm not aware of a state statute or regulation that would prohibit recruiting a candidate with a similar name to challenge another candidate on the Alaska ballot,” said John Lindback, former chief of staff to Alaska Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, a Democrat.
In 2024, a former Florida state senator and campaign consultant was convicted on felony charges for a scheme aimed at tipping a tight state legislative race that involved paying a “ghost candidate” with the same last name as the Democratic incumbent more than $44,000 in cash and gifts to run for the seat.
The fact that money changed hands makes the Florida case distinct from the Sullivan saga, Kendall said.
"If the state of Alaska had video of Decoy Dan being handed a paper bag with $100,000, we're having a different conversation," he said.
President Trump and a number of other Republican leaders have also called for an investigation into whether efforts to recruit a second Sullivan constituted federal crimes. But former Department of Justice attorney and Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt said the facts brought to light by the Times report don’t appear to indicate a federal crime, either.
“The only thing I can think of is if — IF — there were an undisclosed payment made in service of Sullivan's actual campaign (once he announced), that would run up against some campaign finance rules,” Levitt said. “But I haven't heard of anything like that sort of payment, and just working to convince someone to run doesn't violate any law I'm aware of.”
The chair of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, said Thursday he’s requesting interviews with the aides identified by the Times as involved in the effort, Politico reported.
