A New York Times investigation detailed an alleged effort by operatives linked to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit a second Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s ballot. The report emerged as nearly one in 10 registered Alaska voters had already cast their ballots.
As a result, an estimated 58,000 voters may have made their selections before learning about the reported effort, which critics say was designed to create confusion by placing two candidates with the same name on the ballot.
Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC have denied any involvement.
Dan J. Sullivan advanced to the four-candidate general election earlier this year after receiving 2.5% of the vote in the primary. His campaign announcement did not identify a party affiliation, and his website does not outline positions on political issues.
“Dan Sullivan challenges Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate Seat, urges Alaskans to defeat incumbent, elect a Sullivan who stands up for Alaska,” the announcement said.
The New York Times reported that the effort to recruit potential Republican spoiler candidates included Dan J. Sullivan. Text messages, interviews and internal documents reportedly showed coordination between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Peltola’s staff.
A source interviewed by The New York Times said Peltola knew about the effort.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit last week seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, citing the potential for voter confusion. It remains unclear whether the DOJ is likely to prevail on those grounds.
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Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system adds another layer of complexity to Sen. Sullivan’s race.
Under ranked-choice voting, voters order candidates by preference. If their first choice is eliminated, their vote transfers to the next candidate they ranked. Supporters say the system gives voters more influence and boosts candidates who might not otherwise be a first choice. Critics, however, argue that it can make elections more difficult to understand.
Alaska state Sen. James Kaufman, a Republican, is among those critics.
Kaufman worries that some voters may not rank both candidates named “Sullivan,” potentially leaving themselves vulnerable to confusion at the ballot box.
He said some Alaskans, particularly Republicans, continue to reject the system because of objections to how it was adopted and implemented.
“Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote,” Kaufman said in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this year.
“And, so, the ballot fatigue where people just don’t rank because maybe they disagree with it; there’s a pretty strong segment of the population here that just patently disagrees with the rank-choice voting system we ended up with. And they don’t necessarily believe in utilizing it,” he added.
The Nov. 3 general election is now less than a week away.