Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has launched an investigation into Mary Peltola’s Democratic Senate campaign over allegations that it helped place a lookalike candidate on the ballot days before Election Day.
Dunleavy said Wednesday night that authorities would determine whether the campaign could face criminal prosecution or civil sanctions. The announcement followed a New York Times report detailing efforts to recruit retiree Dan J. Sullivan to challenge Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan.
In a post on X, Dunleavy said deliberately confusing voters amounted to an assault on election integrity. He added that anyone found to have violated the law would be held responsible.
The investigation began just hours after Donald Trump called for Peltola to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted, although he did not identify a specific offense.
Trump described the alleged operation as “voter fraud at the highest level” while traveling to a rally in Ohio. He also demanded that the second Dan Sullivan be taken off the ballot.
The alleged “Decoy Dan” effort reportedly involved senior members of Peltola’s campaign as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party’s leading Senate election organization.
The groups approached the retiree because he shared both the first and last name of the Republican incumbent and lived in a small Alaskan fishing community.
Both candidates named Dan Sullivan are set to appear on Tuesday’s ballot, alongside Peltola and a fourth contender, Gerald Heikes.
Trump called the alleged operation “voter fraud at the highest level” while traveling to a rally in Ohio and urged officials to remove the decoy Sullivan from the ballot
Dunleavy said Wednesday night that investigators would assess whether Peltola’s campaign could face criminal charges or civil penalties
This composite image shows Trump-backed Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, left, in Palmer, Alaska, on August 17, 2026, alongside another Dan Sullivan running in the state’s Senate race
A New York Times investigation reported that staff members working for Peltola recruited other people named Dan Sullivan to enter the race in an effort to improve her chances of winning
MUST READ: Wagner rises from the ashes: Prigozhin's barbaric mercenaries are back – NewsFinale
However, Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared to acknowledge on Fox News on Wednesday that the alleged plan may not have violated existing law, arguing instead that it should have been illegal.
The Justice Department had already filed a lawsuit at Trump’s direction the previous week, seeking to block certification of the election if Senator Sullivan were defeated. The complaint did not point to a specific unlawful act.
The lawsuit alleges that Daniel J. Sullivan, who says he supported Democrats in the last three presidential elections and voted for Peltola in her 2022 and 2024 House contests, sought to make Alaskans believe he was the sitting senator.
US District Chief Judge Sharon Gleason has accelerated the proceedings, ordering federal attorneys to respond to a motion to dismiss by Thursday afternoon.
She also highlighted that the administration waited until voting was already underway before bringing the case. The lawsuit came nearly four months after Alaska’s highest court directed that Daniel J. Sullivan be placed on the ballot.
Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC sought permission to participate in the lawsuit. On Wednesday, the administration withdrew its opposition, pointing to the Times report as evidence of an expansive effort to mislead Alaska voters through a decoy candidate.
Peltola addressed the controversy at a rally Wednesday, brushing aside the reports as an attempt to distract from the campaign.
A spokesperson for Senator Sullivan accused Peltola’s team of misleading Alaskans for months while publicly denying that the alleged operation was taking place.
The ‘decoy’s’ campaign website is pictured, referring to him as a Republican US Senate candidate
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said ballot-stacking has no place in elections and accused the campaign of lying to Alaskans and then covering it up.
Democrats have hit back by arguing that ballot-stacking is standard practice in American politics, and that Republicans have pulled the same trick in a string of states, including Alaska.
Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Lauren French highlighted a GOP-linked super PAC that poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into propping up Democratic and Green Party candidates in Alaska’s Senate primary this year.