Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered a state investigation into allegations that people working with Democrat Mary Peltola's U.S. Senate campaign participated in efforts to recruit candidates who could draw votes from Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, escalating an extraordinary election dispute days before the November 3 midterms. Dunleavy, a Republican, directed the Alaska Department of Public Safety to investigate whether an alleged effort to shape the Senate ballot violated state law and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.
He said reporting by The New York Times contained what he described as new evidence of an organized effort to recruit candidates, including one sharing the incumbent senator's name, to confuse voters. The move followed a Times investigation reporting that people working with Peltola's campaign and senior Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) aides participated in efforts to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who will appear on Tuesday's ballot alongside Senator Dan S.
The newspaper cited interviews, text messages and other documents. Peltola's campaign and the DSCC have denied recruiting Sullivan Jr. or other candidates. The state investigation raises a key unanswered legal question: Even if political operatives deliberately encouraged Sullivan Jr. or other candidates to enter the race to draw votes from the incumbent, what Alaska law, if any, would such conduct violate?
Jeff Feldman, a University of Washington law professor who has litigated extensively in Alaska, told Newsweek on Thursday that "it's less than clear that such conduct would violate any provision of Alaska law." Attempts to remove Sullivan Jr. from the ballot have already failed in state court. The Alaska Division of Elections concluded earlier this year that his candidacy was intended to confuse or mislead voters, but a judge reversed the decision after finding that Alaska law did not impose a "good faith" requirement on candidates. The Alaska Supreme Court subsequently allowed Sullivan Jr. to remain on the ballot.
The state, meanwhile, is fighting a separate Justice Department lawsuit over the same election. On October 26, Alaska's Department of Law asked a federal judge to dismiss the case, arguing against the federal government's legal basis for intervening in the state's administration of the race. Newsweek has reached out to Peltola's campaign, the Alaska Department of Public Safety and Daniel J.
Sullivan Jr. for comment. Sullivan Jr. is a retired teacher from Petersburg who is running alongside Peltola, incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan and Republican Gerald Heikes.
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