Dan Sullivan vs. Dan Sullivan: Alaska governor orders probe into Peltola Senate campaign

By Mary McCue Bell and Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times - Thursday, October 29, 2026

Alaska’s Republican governor wants to know whether former Rep. Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign broke the law.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into whether the Democratic candidate’s campaign violated state law and could face criminal or civil penalties. The allegation is that it helped recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent.

The situation also escalated in Washington.

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The Justice Department issued a raft of new grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. The subpoenas seek grand jury testimony and documents and demand the preservation of records. More subpoenas are coming, according to a person briefed on the investigation.

Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, announced a separate probe. He accused Democrats of trying to “rig” the election.

All the investigations were triggered by a New York Times report earlier this week. It said operatives and aides tied to Ms. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee helped recruit retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan Jr. to run against GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Mr. Dunleavy said the alleged effort was meant to “deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes.”

“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,” he said. “The evidence will determine what happens next.”

The Times said the “ballot composition project” began in the summer of 2025 and ultimately led to Dan J. Sullivan’s recruitment. It cited Elisa Rios, Ms. Peltola’s former campaign manager, as a key source and Democratic strategist Jerid Kurtz, co-owner of Wingspan Strategies, as a central player in the recruitment effort.

Dan J. Sullivan, who is running as a Republican, says he entered the race on his own.

“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” Mr. Dunleavy said. “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.”

Mr. Comer’s committee has asked Ms. Rios to testify Nov. 5 and Mr. Kurtz on Nov. 6.

“Democrats are the party of fraud,” Mr. Comer said. “Knowing they can’t win on the issues, Democrats schemed to rig the U.S. Senate election in Alaska by deliberately confusing voters.”

Ms. Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC both deny any role in recruiting candidates.

“The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race,” the campaign said.

The Times report landed less than a week after the Justice Department sued to block certification of the election if Dan J. Sullivan were to draw enough votes from Dan S. Sullivan to affect the outcome.

The Alaska Division of Elections earlier this year removed Dan J. Sullivan from the primary ballot. But the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that state law gave no basis for excluding him.