One Alaska voter said an account of an alleged scheme involving a lookalike candidate changed his mind about the Senate race. He now plans to vote for Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, after previously considering Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. representative.
The contest uses ranked-choice voting and has drawn national attention because another candidate on the ballot has a name very similar to the incumbent’s. The voter, who did not give his name, said he had viewed the situation with suspicion from the start.
After reading a report describing efforts by Democrats to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to run against the senator, he said he was disgusted by what he saw as a “sleazy” episode.
The woman accompanying him said he had been thinking about voting for Peltola. “I switched,” he replied. She called the alleged effort unethical and said she did not think Peltola should be elected. The two said they would vote for Sen. Sullivan.
Peltola’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At a rally last week, Peltola denied knowing about or taking part in the alleged scheme. She said she knew only of herself and the incumbent on the ballot, and insisted she had no interest in misleading voters, adding that she believed she could beat Sullivan.
In a speech Monday, Sen. Sullivan called the other candidate a fake and said the extent of the alleged corruption and cheating was troubling.
President Donald Trump has endorsed Sullivan. In a Truth Social post Monday night, Trump said the senator should run “under protest,” arguing that placing another Dan Sullivan on the ballot amounted to fraud.
