Donald Trump has called for the criminal prosecution of Mary Peltola, the Democrat trying to unseat Republican senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska, after a newspaper report claimed people linked to her campaign helped put a second candidate with the same name on the ballot. Ms Peltola’s campaign flatly denies any involvement, but Alaska’s Republican governor has now ordered a police investigation, just days before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The row centres on Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, Alaska, who is listed on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party affiliation. He came through the state’s open primary in August and is one of four candidates on the ranked-choice general election ballot, alongside the sitting senator.
What the report alleged
The New York Times reported this week, citing text messages and interviews, that members of Ms Peltola’s campaign discussed recruiting people who shared the senator’s name before settling on the retired teacher. According to the Associated Press’s summary of the report, the Times said staff from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) were on some of those message threads. CBS News said the Times presented the effort as part of a wider push to draw more candidates into the race.
Part of the Times story was based on interviews with Elisa Rios, Ms Peltola’s former campaign manager, who was fired in August. AP reported that she tried to retract her comments last week, and that the agency had been unable to reach her.
The second Mr Sullivan has consistently denied being a decoy. In June he said he had had no contact at all with the Peltola campaign, and he insists he is a genuine candidate. A state elections official had earlier ruled him ineligible, finding that his filing was intended to confuse or mislead voters, but the Alaska Supreme Court later ruled that he was entitled to appear on the ballot.
Trump: prosecute them
Asked about the report on Wednesday, Mr Trump said he believed Ms Peltola and the other Sullivan should be prosecuted. On his Truth Social platform he branded the affair election fraud, writing: “The Democrats cheated!” In a separate post he said the Democrat should face legal and political consequences.
The President had already directed the Justice Department to sue to block certification of the result if Senator Sullivan loses because of voter confusion, and told reporters he was the one who ordered it, according to CBS News. Legal experts quoted by AP said the Times report would not change the legal footing of that lawsuit.
Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, also acted on Wednesday, ordering the state Department of Public Safety to examine whether any state law was broken and whether criminal or civil action is warranted. He said Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support.
Peltola hits back
Ms Peltola’s campaign said it had no involvement with either Sullivan campaign, repeating a line it first used in June, and said threats from a Washington politician would not deter her. At a campaign stop, the former congresswoman dismissed the story as a distraction. The DSCC also said it was not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.
Senator Sullivan’s campaign accused Ms Peltola’s team, its advisers, the DSCC and Alaska Democratic operatives of colluding to confuse voters. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s other Republican senator, who has endorsed Mr Sullivan but is a longtime friend of Ms Peltola, accused the Democrat’s camp of a pattern of lies and cover-ups, AP reported.
Why one Alaska seat matters so much
Alaska was long seen as safe Republican territory, but Ms Peltola has led Senator Sullivan by between two and seven points in October polls, according to a Yahoo News round-up of surveys. Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin model put her average lead at 3.6 points this week, well within a normal polling error, and Decision Desk HQ’s forecast rates the state a toss-up.
Democrats currently hold 47 Senate seats and need a net gain of four to take control, because Vice President JD Vance would break a 50-50 tie. Alaska is one of a cluster of Republican-held seats, alongside the likes of Maine, Ohio and Texas, that Democrats need to be competitive in to have a realistic path to a majority.
Under Alaska’s ranked-choice system, voters number the candidates in order of preference. If nobody wins a majority of first preferences, the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated and those ballots move to their next choice. That means the effect of any confusion between the two Sullivans is hard to predict. As of Monday, 46,204 ballots had already been cast in the state, according to AP data.
What happens next
Polls close on Tuesday 3 November, but Alaska is traditionally one of the slowest states to finish counting, and if no candidate clears 50 per cent, the ranked-choice rounds could push a final result days or even weeks down the line. In the meantime the state police inquiry, and the Justice Department’s certification lawsuit, could keep the race in the headlines and potentially in the courts well beyond election night.
No one has been charged with any offence, Ms Peltola and the DSCC deny the claims, and the allegations in the Times report have not been tested in court.
Sources
- CBS News: Alaska’s governor orders investigation into Peltola campaign over allegedly recruiting second Dan Sullivan (28-29 October 2026)
- PBS NewsHour / AP: Trump calls for prosecution of Alaska Senate candidate Peltola over Sullivan name controversy (28 October 2026)
- Democracy Now!: Headlines for October 29, 2026 (29 October 2026)
- Yahoo News: The 2026 midterms are next week. Here’s what the latest polls say (26 October 2026)
- Silver Bulletin: 2026 Midterm Election Forecast (29 October 2026)
- Decision Desk HQ: 2026 Midterm Election Forecast (30 October 2026)
- Just Security: Early Edition, October 29, 2026 (29 October 2026)
Featured image: Alaska State Capitol 218 by Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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