Alaska governor orders probe into Democratic campaign's alleged links to same-name candidate

The Republican governor of Alaska has ordered an investigation into an alleged 'scheme' designed 'to manipulate Alaska's elections'. Governor Mike Dunleavy said he was responding to a New York Times (NYT) report. The story said the team of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola worked with people who tried to recruit a man to contest the Senate race who shares their name with Peltola's opponent, Dan Sullivan. Sullivan, the incumbent senator, and fellow Republicans have accused the Democrats of trying to confuse voters. President Donald Trump has called for Peltola to be barred. Peltola's team deny any wrongdoing, or encouraging the second Dan Sullivan to stand in the tight contest.

For his part, the second Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher who lives in a remote fishing village, denies any links with the Peltola campaign. Although he has given few interviews, he told the NYT, external in August he was running the race in good faith as a moderate Republican, albeit that he had voted for Peltola in previous contests. The ballot paper is set to list the two men as Dan S Sullivan, who will be described as the incumbent Republican senator, and Daniel J Sullivan Jr.

Senator Dan Sullivan told Fox News on Wednesday night that Peltola should 'come clean' and described it as a scandal of the highest order. His fellow Republican senator in Alaska, Lisa Murkowksi, accused the Democratic campaign of engaging in a 'pattern of lies'. The Alaska race is considered by analysts to be one of the tightest of the upcoming US midterm elections, which will decide which party controls Congress. Americans head to the polls across the country on Tuesday.

Previous efforts by the Republicans to remove that Sullivan, the retired teacher, from the ballot have already been rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court. But Dunleavy's statement, which did not name the Peltola campaign, said the NYT reporting had supported findings by the state Division of Elections earlier this year. '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,' he wrote. 'The evidence will determine what happens next.'

The NYT report alleged that people connected to Peltola's campaign, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), worked to try to recruit Sullivan the schoolteacher to stand in the Senate race. This was part of a broader effort to encourage other would-be 'spoiler' candidates to enter the race and dilute the support of the sitting Republican senator, the newspaper reported. The paper said it had seen text messages and interviewed 12 people who who participated in or were told of the plan, or were would-be candidates who the team tried to recruit. The BBC has not independently verified the NYT's reporting.

In a series of Truth Social posts, Trump too pointed to the report and made a variety of allegations against Peltola, who he argued should be removed from the ballot. He repeated his endorsement for Dan S Sullivan, the incumbent Republican senator, writing: 'Dan is a GREAT man, has ALWAYS delivered for Alaska.' His administration previously filed a legal case aimed at preventing the certification of the result if the Trump-backed candidate loses, arguing that the presence of both Sullivans on the ballot could confuse voters.

Alaska's ranked-choice voting system means that voters could select both Sullivans if they are unsure at the ballot box. The battle threatens to delay the full picture of nationwide results following the midterm elections. The ultimate question of which party controls Congress will have a significant bearing on the remaining two years of Trump's presidency.

A statement from an Alaskans for Mary spokesperson, written prior to Dunleavy's call for an investigation, said: 'Mary got in this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who is fighting to lower their costs and put Alaska first, and no tweet or threat from any DC politician will keep her away from that fight.' The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. In a statement given to US media, the DSCC likewise denied that it had been involved in any such scheme.

Peltola earlier this week paused campaigning activities in order to recover after she and her family sustained 'minor injuries' in a car crash.