Donald Trump has called for a criminal investigation into an alleged effort to place a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot in Alaska’s closely fought Senate race.
The president accused Democratic candidate Mary Peltola and the Democratic Party of involvement, saying Peltola should withdraw and face prosecution. Federal prosecutors in Alaska are reportedly examining how the second Dan Sullivan secured his place on the ballot.
“To me that’s voter fraud at the highest level,” Mr Trump told reporters.
The contest has pitted Republican incumbent Dan S Sullivan, who is backed by Mr Trump, against Ms Peltola and Dan J Sullivan, a retired teacher from a small fishing village. Republicans have labelled the latter “Decoy Dan”, claiming his candidacy was designed to confuse voters and draw support away from the incumbent.
Alaska Senate ballot allegations
An investigation by The New York Times reported that staff working for Ms Peltola had been instructed to identify people named Dan Sullivan. It said the effort formed part of a project known as the Ballot Composition Project, which allegedly sought to recruit several people with the same name.
The report said the initiative involved campaign lawyers and senior figures from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It also alleged that Democrats considered creating a new political party aimed at attracting Republican voters.
A Midwestern political operative was said to have travelled around Alaska seeking potential candidates, including by meeting people in pubs. The effort eventually resulted in Dan J Sullivan announcing his Senate candidacy in the spring.
The two candidates have different middle initials: the Republican incumbent is Dan S Sullivan, while the other candidate is Dan J Sullivan.
Ms Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement in the candidacy. However, the newspaper’s investigation said interviews, text messages and documents indicated that her team had actively sought more than one candidate with the name Dan Sullivan.
Mr Trump referred to the report in a post on Truth Social, accusing Ms Peltola of taking part in a “monthslong secret plan” to recruit a “fake” Dan Sullivan.
He said she should “suffer the legal and political consequences for what she has done, a fraud on the American public”. He added: “Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or fake Dan Sullivan on the ballot.”
On Wednesday evening, Mr Trump said Ms Peltola should resign from the contest and that she and the Democratic Party “should be prosecuted”.
Vice-President JD Vance has also backed the allegations. “When you put a person on the ballot explicitly to try to confuse voters, I think that’s the definition of electoral fraud. And I don’t think that we should endorse it,” he told reporters.
The Sullivan campaign accused Ms Peltola and her team of misleading voters. “Not one player in this operation has acted in good faith with Alaska voters,” a campaign spokesman said.
“Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along,” the spokesman added.
The controversy follows an extraordinary move by the Trump administration to sue Alaska in an attempt to block certification of the Senate election results if the Republican incumbent loses.
Mr Trump confirmed that he had personally ordered the action, saying: “I’m the one that said do it.” He has repeatedly claimed that a rival candidate named Daniel J Sullivan Jr was put forward to divert votes from the sitting senator.
A Data for Progress poll conducted between October 8 and 16 put Ms Peltola narrowly ahead, with 51 per cent support compared with 49 per cent for Mr Sullivan. The presence of the second Dan Sullivan has made the race a national political flashpoint despite Alaska’s population being below one million.
