Alaska Governor Orders Investigation into Senate Ballot Dispute

Alaska residents face a new layer of scrutiny in the state’s U.S. Senate race as Governor Mike Dunleavy orders an investigation into alleged campaign irregularities. The governor directed the Department of Public Safety on Wednesday night to determine if state laws were violated and whether criminal or civil action is warranted. This move follows a report from The New York Times detailing efforts by Democratic operatives to recruit a candidate who shares the name of the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan.

The dispute centers on a non-incumbent candidate also named Dan Sullivan who appears on the general election ballot. Republicans have long alleged that the presence of a second Sullivan on the ballot could confuse voters and siphon support from the GOP incumbent. The New York Times reported that these efforts involved communications among attorneys, advisers for Democrat Mary Peltola, and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Peltola, a former congresswoman, is currently seeking to flip the Senate seat for her party.

The timeline of the controversy began with Alaska’s nonpartisan primary system, which advances the top four vote-getters to the fall ballot. The non-incumbent Sullivan secured a spot on the general election ballot through this process. State officials had previously probed the candidacies, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that the non-incumbent Sullivan could remain on the ballot. The legal status of the race became more complex last week when President Donald Trump’s Justice Department sought to intervene, asking a court to delay certification if the incumbent Sullivan lost by a small margin. That legal effort cited potential voter confusion stemming from the duplicate names.

On Wednesday, Peltola campaigned and called the news story a distraction, according to Alaska Public Media. The Peltola campaign and the DSCC reiterated their long-standing denials of involvement in the non-incumbent Sullivan’s candidacy. The non-incumbent Sullivan did not respond to requests for comment but has previously stated that running for Senate was his own decision. Nate Adams, a spokesperson for the incumbent Senator, released a statement saying that Mary Peltola and her campaign had spent months denying a scheme they were running all along. President Trump posted online that the situation constituted voter fraud at the highest level.

Justice Department officials announced on Thursday that the New York Times reporting expanded their options for investigating the Senate race. Consequently, the department filed an amended complaint citing the new details. Election law experts had broadly criticized the initial Justice Department case as weak, noting that the Constitution grants states control over their elections. Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, described the use of such tactics as standard fare for campaigns, noting that the internet makes it easy to spread information about campaign tricks or corrections to them.

Some voters compared the situation to Republican groups’ spending in support of a Democrat who is a federal prisoner in New York but is on Alaska’s U.S. House ballot. Reactions to the reporting among residents were mixed. Some expressed frustration that the issue was drawing attention away from other matters, while others expressed skepticism that voters would be confused. The ballot explicitly notes which Sullivan is the Republican incumbent.

Experts have pointed out that the increased news coverage of the second Sullivan’s candidacy could reduce any potential voter confusion. Additionally, Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system for the general election. Under this system, if voters are confused, they can rank both Sullivans and choose not to rank Peltola. Whether voters wish to keep the state’s unique election system is also a question on the general election ballot.

The investigation ordered by Governor Dunleavy will now examine whether the alleged scheme violated Alaska’s laws. It is currently unclear which specific statutes could have been breached. The state Department of Public Safety will lead the inquiry into the actions of the campaign operatives and the resulting impact on the election process.