DOJ and Alaska Probe Peltola Campaign Over Decoy Candidate
The Department of Justice and Alaska officials are investigating Democratic candidate Mary Peltola for allegedly recruiting a namesake spoiler to confuse voters in a U.S. Senate race.
The United States Department of Justice and the state of Alaska have launched overlapping criminal and civil investigations into whether Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) recruited a decoy candidate to manipulate the 2026 U.S. Senate race. A New York Times report alleged that Democratic operatives orchestrated a "ballot composition project" to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, to run as an independent to siphon votes from Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan.
In response, the Justice Department issued over 40 grand jury subpoenas and filed a lawsuit to block the certification of election results if the incumbent loses by a margin smaller than the votes received by the decoy candidate. The DOJ is also seeking a court order to isolate specific ballots to investigate voter confusion. Simultaneously, Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered the Alaska Department of Public Safety to investigate potential state law violations, warning that illegal activity could impact whether a candidate is seated in the Senate.
President Donald Trump characterized the effort as "voter fraud at the highest level" and demanded Peltola's removal from the ballot and prosecution. Peltola has dismissed the allegations as a "distraction" and a "smear campaign," denying any knowledge of the recruitment effort. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. also denied coordination with Democrats and reportedly fled his hometown of Petersburg for Anchorage as the probe intensified. The Alaska Supreme Court previously ruled that the independent candidate was qualified to remain on the ballot.
