The Department of Justice (DOJ) is claiming Alaska Democrat U.S. Senate candidate and former Rep.
Mary Peltola (D-AK) along with other Democrats misled a federal court regarding a scheme to find a second Daniel Sullivan candidate to appear on the ballot against Peltola and Sen. Daniel S. Sullian (R-AK).
In an “amended complaint,” the DOJ argued that Peltola’s campaign, along with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), had “dissembled” in an earlier court filing where they claimed they didn’t know what Daniel J. Sullivan’s intentions of entering the race were, Politico reported.
The amended complaint comes after a report from the New York Times revealed that “Peltola’s campaign lawyers” and “senior aides” with the DSCC were allegedly involved in a scheme to find a second Dan Sullivan to enter the U.S. Senate race and appear on the ballot:
The amended complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, contends that Peltola’s campaign committee, Alaskans for Mary, and the DSCC dissembled in an Oct. 23 court filing where they contended they didn’t possess enough information to know whether the political novice was engaged in a “good-faith candidacy” or sought to get on the ballot “to confuse or mislead.”
The amended complaint comes after “Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC” alleged that they “lack knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth or falsity of the allegation concerning the purposes of Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy,” the outlet reported.
“Apparently emboldened by the success of their reported plot to deceive Alaskan voters, Alaskans For Mary and the DSCC appear to have turned to misleading this Court,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward said, according to the outlet.
The New York Times report noted that while Peltola’s campaign “has repeatedly denied any involvement” in Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy, Elisa Rios, who previously worked as a campaign manager for Peltola, said that Peltola was “definitely aware” of the plan. Rios clarified that Peltola “was not directly involved”:
The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy. But the Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory.
In response to the report from the New York Times, President Donald Trump called the scheme “A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.” Trump also stated that Peltola should not be allowed to run “after perpetrating such a terrible scheme.”
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) revealed that he had ordered an investigation into this scheme to mislead voters in the state.
“Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes. The Alaska Division of Elections investigated these very concerns in June of this year.”
“The new reporting substantially supports the Division’s findings,” Dunleavy added. “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. The evidence will determine what happens next.”
Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates—including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator—to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes. The Alaska…
— Governor Mike Dunleavy (@GovDunleavy) October 29, 2026
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