Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered a state investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola’s U.S. Senate campaign following explosive new reporting that aides and national Democrat operatives worked to recruit a candidate sharing the name of incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in an apparent bid to siphon votes and confuse Alaskans.
In a statement posted early Thursday, Dunleavy cited the New York Times report published Wednesday, writing that it “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.”
He noted that the Alaska Division of Elections had already examined related concerns in June and that the new reporting “substantially supports the Division’s findings.”
Dunleavy directed the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the alleged scheme violated state laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.
Dunleavy wrote on X:
“Today’s New York Times 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. The Alaska Division of Elections investigated these very concerns in June of this year. The new reporting substantially supports the Division’s findings.
I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The evidence will determine what happens next.
Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.
Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable.”
