JUNEAU, Alaska — Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola said Thursday that she knew nothing about an effort to place a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on Alaska's ballot for the U.S. Senate.1,3,4,5
Peltola is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan in a contest widely described as central to control of the Senate, and her statement came as the Justice Department advanced a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas and Alaska's Republican governor ordered a state inquiry. No charges had been filed as of Friday morning, and the recipients and number of the subpoenas were not immediately clear.1,3,5
"I just want to clear the air," Peltola said at the top of a speech in a downtown bar in Juneau, Alaska's capital. "I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters." The controversy followed reporting this week by The New York Times, which alleged that people connected to Peltola's campaign and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee worked to try to recruit Dan J. Sullivan Jr., described as a retired teacher living in a remote fishing village in southeastern Alaska with little political experience, to enter the race.1,3,4,5
The Times said it had seen text messages and interviewed 12 people who participated in or were told of the plan or were would-be candidates the team tried to recruit. The BBC said it had not independently verified that reporting. The Peltola campaign has denied the account, and Dan J. Sullivan has long denied he was running at Democrats' behest and has said he had no contact with Peltola's campaign. "Zero, none, zilch," he said in June after announcing his run.1,5
At a rally in Soldotna, Peltola said attention should be on Alaska's high cost of living and Sullivan's support for the war in Iran, not on who is on the ballot. "Anybody who's working in our best interest isn't going to talk about the nonsense. This is all stuff to sell newspapers," she said. "This is all stuff to get subscriptions. Nobody at the New York Times cares about affordability in Alaska."2
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony or documents, along with records preservation demands, were issued after the Times report, and that more subpoenas were expected. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the continuing inquiry. CBS News reported that the subpoenas targeted Democratic officials allegedly connected to the recruitment effort. The department for months has been looking into allegations that Dan J. Sullivan Jr. entered the race to siphon votes from the incumbent, though potential targets remain unclear.1,3,5
President Donald Trump earlier this week called for the criminal prosecution of Peltola and her campaign. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a Fox News interview Wednesday that he would not discuss any criminal investigations but accused Democrats of "cheating." "They are trying to take votes away from the incumbent, not by running an election, not by running on issues but by putting up a person with the same name," Blanche said.5
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday announced plans for a criminal investigation, saying the newspaper's reporting "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." "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections," Dunleavy added, saying the reporting substantially supported earlier findings by the state's elections board.1,3,5
Trump on Thursday questioned whether Peltola could serve if she won. "Well, you're going to have to see what happens," he told reporters while traveling to a rally in South Carolina. "It's hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run." Later, while campaigning for Republican Sen. Darline Graham, he said he felt Peltola "actually should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted."3,5
Separately, the administration filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking to prevent certification of the result if the Trump-backed Sullivan loses, arguing that having both names on the ballot could confuse voters. The department amended the suit Wednesday to cite the Times reporting and Dunleavy's announcement. A federal judge expedited consideration and will weigh motions to dismiss brought by Alaska election officials and supported by the Peltola campaign and voting rights groups. State attorneys asked for a ruling by Monday, saying the case could "cast a cloud over Alaska's election that is contrary to the public interest."1,5
Scott Kendall, an attorney who worked on Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski's 2010 and 2016 campaigns, said he was skeptical that the conduct described in the Times account violated the law, noting that Alaska law has no specific good-faith requirement for candidates and that similar candidacies have occurred before. "I freely admit there could be more facts, but I'm not going to speculate they exist," he said. He said he believes the primary risk to Peltola is "absolute reputational harm."1
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report classifies the race as a toss-up. Democrats hold 47 seats to Republicans' 53 and are targeting Alaska among a handful of states that could decide the majority, and recent polls cited in the reports have shown Peltola in the lead. With voting days away, Trump is scheduled to appear Sunday at events in Kansas and Iowa after previously canceled appearances were rescheduled to allow remote appearances at tele-rallies. In a fundraising post Thursday, Peltola said, "They can't win on their record so they're trying to intimidate me into backing down."1,3,5
