Trump Demands Prosecution of Mary Peltola Over Alaska Spoiler Plot

President Donald Trump demanded the removal and criminal prosecution of Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola following reports that her campaign orchestrated a scheme to deceive Alaska voters. A New York Times report alleged that Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee conducted a secret ballot composition project to recruit candidates with the same name as Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan to confuse voters and siphon votes.

The reports identify Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, as the recruited spoiler candidate. While the Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied involvement, former campaign manager Elisa Rios stated she was aware of the recruitment effort. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski condemned the alleged plot as a culture of deception, while Peltola dismissed the claims as a diversion.

In response, the United States Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit to block the certification of the election results if the incumbent senator loses, pending an investigation into whether votes for the namesake candidate were intended for the incumbent. Trump characterized the strategy as voter fraud at the highest level and asserted that campaign officials committed perjury in federal court.

Separately, Alaskans are voting on Ballot Measure 2 to repeal the state's ranked-choice voting system. Critics, including Elon Musk, argue the system delays results, while Governor Mike Dunleavy recently vetoed legislation intended to accelerate the vote count.