Alaska Senate Race Gets Complicated

A recent investigation by The New York Times revealed that the campaign for Mary Peltola, a Democratic candidate for the Senate in Alaska, may have been involved in a strategy to divert votes from the incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. This effort, referred to internally as the “ballot composition project,” reportedly saw the involvement of aides from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, top campaign advisors, and party lawyers, along with an operative using aliases to move around Alaska.

Former President Donald Trump took to social media to argue that Peltola shouldn’t be permitted to keep her name on the ballot, labeling the situation as “ELECTION FRAUD.”

The initiative apparently started in the summer of 2025, when a staffer in Peltola’s camp was tasked with identifying Alaskans named Dan Sullivan from state voter rolls. This effort led to the recruitment of Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher with left-leaning views from Petersburg, who changed his voter registration to Republican just before announcing his candidacy.

Elisa Rios, who used to be Peltola’s campaign manager until August, indicated that while Peltola was not directly orchestrating the project, she was “definitely aware” of it. “Alaskan voters need to know,” Rios said, pointing to the importance of transparency for informed voter decisions. She later attempted to take back her comments, but the Times noted that her initial statements were supported by text messages and internal documents.

Central to the alleged campaign plan was Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative who reportedly engaged potential candidates at local venues, offering financial incentives to conservative and independent individuals to run, thereby splitting votes that might have gone to Sullivan.

Trump reacted strongly on Truth Social, asserting that the Democrats had manipulated the election by placing another Dan Sullivan on the ballot and claiming it to be perjury. He suggested that Peltola should face significant consequences for her actions, which he described as fraudulent.

In addition to Dan J. Sullivan, other candidates like drywall contractor Gerald Heikes were recruited, as detailed in the report. They also allegedly pressured David Leslie, a progressive candidate, to withdraw from the race to prevent splitting votes from Peltola.

The campaign considered creating a third-party “MAGA party” aimed at further dividing the right-leaning electorate but ultimately scrapped the idea. Discussions around this strategy included Jacquelyn Lopez, an attorney representing both the DSCC and Peltola’s camp.

Peltola’s campaign firmly denied any involvement in recruiting candidates for the race, with the DSCC reinforcing this position and shifting the focus back to the actions of the Republicans, which they claimed included installing contenders to undermine their own candidates.

The report surfaced just days ahead of the election, coinciding with a Justice Department lawsuit aimed at blocking the certification of the election if confusion arose from the similarly named candidates.

In Alaska’s unique election setup, Peltola stands as the only Democrat on the ballot, competing against Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan, and Gerald Heikes.