DOJ and Alaska Probe Peltola Campaign Over Ballot Scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice and Alaska officials are investigating Democratic candidate Mary Peltola for allegedly recruiting a decoy candidate to confuse voters.
The United States Department of Justice and Alaska state authorities have launched criminal and civil investigations into whether Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) orchestrated a scheme to confuse voters in the 2026 Alaska Senate race. A New York Times report alleged that Peltola's campaign and the DSCC recruited a retired teacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run as an independent to siphon votes from Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan.
President Donald Trump characterized the effort as voter fraud and directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit seeking to block the certification of election results if the incumbent loses by a narrow margin. The DOJ has since issued over 40 grand jury subpoenas and requested the segregation of ballots ranking the decoy candidate to investigate voter confusion. Simultaneously, Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered the Alaska Department of Public Safety to conduct a state-level criminal probe, warning that illegal activity could impact whether a candidate is seated in the Senate.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer also launched an investigation, seeking testimony from former Peltola campaign manager Elisa Rios and operative Jerid Kurtz. While Rios initially claimed Peltola was aware of the project, she later requested a retraction. Peltola has denied all allegations, calling them a distraction and stating she is not interested in tricking voters. The Alaska Supreme Court previously allowed Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to remain on the ballot, despite earlier rulings by state election officials that he was not running in good faith.
