Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola's team has dismissed as "nonsense" Justice Department claims that her campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) deliberately misled the court about Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.'s true motives for entering the race. The Justice Department last week sued to block Alaska from certifying the election result if incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan loses because of alleged "voter confusion" potentially arising from two Dan Sullivans appearing on the ballot.
An amended filing on Thursday cited allegations reported by The New York Times that operatives aligned with Peltola recruited the same-name challenger, a retired teacher and fishing enthusiast who was not a member of the GOP until filing his candidacy, to draw votes away from the incumbent. In the new filing, the situation is described as a "conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the electoral process." Peltola, who has been leading all polls conducted this month by a narrow margin, has denied being involved in the reported efforts to recruit the candidate. According to the New York Times' main source, Peltola's former campaign manager and longtime aide Elisa Rios, the Democratic candidate was not involved in the efforts to stack the ballot but was "definitely aware." In a legal document filed Thursday by Peltola's team and the DSCC, her team said that they "did not have knowledge or information sufficient to admit or deny an allegation about Daniel J.
Sullivan's mental state—whether he filed to run 'with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality.' "The only one who could possibly know Daniel J. Sullivan's true reasons for filing as a candidate is Daniel J. Sullivan, and Alaskans for Mary and DSCC's statement that they could not admit or deny that allegation was entirely proper." They said that the Justice Department's accusations that Peltola's team had misled the court was "nonsense," adding that the federal government "points fingers at Alaskans for Mary and DSCC to distract from its own misconduct in this case." Despite Peltola's team's pushback, the New York Times' reporting has turbocharged the debate around Sullivan Jr.'s candidacy and Democrats' alleged role in putting him on the ballot.
The Justice Department began issuing a new round of grand jury subpoenas Thursday seeking testimony or documents following the reporting, while also sending demands to preserve records, the AP reported, citing a person briefed on the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity. The subpoenas target several Democratic officials who are believed to have taken part in efforts to recruit Sullivan Jr. to appear on the ballot, CBS News reported. The Justice Department has not publicly disclosed what potential federal offenses it is examining.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, also ordered a separate investigation into Peltola's campaign on Thursday. He announced the probe in a social media post which described the New York Times' allegations as "disturbing," adding he directed "the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted." He added: "The evidence will determine what happens next. Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support.
Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections." Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law, Dunleavy said, "must be held accountable." Alaska Department of Public Safety Deputy Commissioner Austin McDaniel told Newsweek on Thursday that the Alaska Bureau of Investigation had initiated an investigation into the alleged conduct described by the Times. Even if Peltola's team is found guilty of recruiting Sullivan Jr. to siphon votes away from the incumbent, however, it is not clear if this would violate any criminal law. Ballot stacking, as it is known, is not illegal in the U.S. at the federal level, where it is actually quite common.
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