Alaska Governor Orders Probe Into Peltola Senate Campaign

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into the U.S. Senate campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola, following reports that her team sought to recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Dunleavy, a Republican, announced the probe in a social media post.

The order came one day after President Donald Trump said prosecutors should pursue a case against Peltola. Trump had previously directed the Department of Justice to sue in order to block certification of the race, asking that Alaska be barred from certifying Peltola as winner if Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. remains on the ballot.

Dunleavy wrote that reporting by The New York Times "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." He added that such conduct "strikes at the integrity of our elections." Dunleavy also noted the reporting "substantially supports" earlier findings by the state's elections board.

A state elections official ruled earlier this year that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, could not appear on the primary ballot, concluding his filing was made "with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality." The Alaska Supreme Court later ruled he was qualified to run. He has denied any contact with Peltola's campaign, saying in June: "Zero, none, zilch." Alaska ballots list "Dan S. Sullivan" as a registered Republican and incumbent, while "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr." appears without party affiliation.

Peltola, a former congresswoman, did not respond to a request for comment on the order. Speaking at a campaign stop in Soldotna, she called the matter a distraction. "This is just another distraction. It's another diversion," she said in a video posted online. "This is all stuff to sell newspapers. This is all stuff to get subscriptions." Asked about the reporting on Wednesday, Trump told reporters, "I think they should be prosecuted." He had also written on social media that "Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done."

The New York Times reported that interviews, text messages and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit showed Peltola's team worked to bring candidates into the race with the aim of splitting support for the GOP senator. The contest is among a handful of Senate races this year that will help determine control of the chamber.