NYT: Peltola Campaign in Alaska Running Spoiler Candidate to Defeat Incumbent Republican Senator Sullivan

Democrats in Alaska and Washington, D.C., have been caught attempting to steal an election from incumbent GOP U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan by confusing voters.

The method: Get another Dan Sullivan to run and siphon off enough votes to put far-left Democratic candidate Mary Peltola over the top on Election Day.

The underhanded tactic is the subject of a complaint by the federal Justice Department (DOJ). But today, The New York Times published a piece that proves the Democrats were up to no good. Peltola’s former campaign manager confirmed the effort, although Elisa Rios later retracted what she said.

Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, of course, claim they did not participate in the monkeyshines.

DOJ Action

As The New American reported yesterday, the DOJ filed a 14-page complaint for injunctive or declaratory relief on October 22.

Running as a third candidate is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.

“Daniel J. Sullivan decided to run for Senator in 2026 as a Republican with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him,” the complaint says:

The sole purpose of his candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan. …

Should Alaska certify any electoral results tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan — whose candidacy … is “for the purpose of confusing or misleading voters and compromising the fairness of the ballot” — the State and its officers will fail in its obligation to protect the integrity of its election.

The complaint notes that Daniel J. Sullivan changed his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican in time for the election, that he worked for a Democratic consultant, and that he voted for Democrats in the last three presidential elections and voted for Peltola to be Alaska’s lone U.S. representative.

The complaint seeks to invalidate a loss by incumbent Senator Sullivan if investigators find that Alaskans who meant to vote for him voted for the former Democrat Sullivan.

Times Report

But today, the Times sallied forth with a report that cites a dozen sources. They say Democrats recruited the second Sullivan to help Peltola defeat her GOP incumbent rival.

“In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can,” the Times reported:

The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state.

This was no random request. Dan S. Sullivan is the name of the state’s Republican senator. And if the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot.

The plan worked. This spring, a retired teacher from a tiny fishing village along the Alaska Panhandle, reachable only by air and sea, announced his candidacy for Senate. His name was Dan J. Sullivan.

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.

The conspiracy to defeat Senator Sullivan involved not only Peltola campaign lawyers, but also “senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee [DSCC], which directs the party’s campaign strategy in Senate races across the country.”

The schemers even “considered forming a new political party to draw conservatives onto the ballot,” the newspaper continued.

Peltola’s former campaign manager, cashiered in August, told the Times that Peltola wasn’t involved in the conspiracy but was “definitely aware.”

The DSCC and Peltola’s campaign, Alaskans for Mary, denied being involved in the shenanigans.

The Times interviewed “12 people who participated in or were told of the plan, or were would-be candidates that the team tried to recruit,” the newspaper explained:

The Times also obtained dozens of text messages that provided updates on the progress of the effort. The reporting included the extensive interviews with Ms. Rios, during which she shared details of the operation.

After telling the Times about the scheme, Rios retracted her claims. “I am not willing to be a source for any story in any capacity,” she told the paper, perhaps aware that her claim might help defeat Peltola. 

Retraction regardless, Rios’ claims “were consistent with The Times’s other reporting.”

Started Last Year

“The operation began in the summer of 2025 to lure potential spoiler candidates onto the state’s unusual four-person ballot, Ms. Rios said,” the Times disclosed:

In one early meeting, she said, aides with the D.S.C.C. introduced a veteran Democratic operative named Jerid Kurtz to Ms. Rios and Anton McParland, who at the time was Ms. Peltola’s chief of staff. Mr. Kurtz, a native of Ohio, was introduced as a specialist in secret ballot maneuvers, Ms. Rios said.

Months later, in early 2026, Mr. Kurtz participated in a video call with members of the ballot composition team, Ms. Rios said. He told the group he had made contact with one of the Dan Sullivans. This Mr. Sullivan lived in the tiny village of Petersburg, and Mr. Kurtz described him as amenable to running if it would help Ms. Peltola, Ms. Rios said.

Mr. Kurtz “told us when he found him,” she said. He said Mr. Sullivan “said he hated Trump, and if it was going to help Mary, he liked Mary. He didn’t have any interest in being a politician, but if this could help.”

That Sullivan refused to speak with the Times.

“Text messages viewed by The Times show officials with the D.S.C.C. and the Peltola campaign communicating for months about the project,” the Times revealed.

Spoiler candidates easily land on the ballot, the Times observed. The state’s primaries are nonpartisan, which means “candidates can claim any party affiliation on the ballot without being vetted by parties themselves.” That’s how the fake GOP candidate Sullivan landed on the ballot.

Lawyers Involved?

“Even as the Peltola campaign and D.S.C.C. officials denied participation in the operation, the texts and documents reviewed by The Times show it involved the party’s Senate committee and its top law firm,” the Times reported:

At one point, when Peltola campaign aides toyed with an audacious idea to establish a right-wing state party that could challenge the incumbent senator, they contacted D.S.C.C. officials.

“Imagine if there was a MAGA party!” [a Peltola campaign aide] wrote in January.

“Smart,” replied [Andrew] Piatt, the D.S.C.C.’s director of campaigns. “Let’s see.”

“I would be surprised if, as alleged, lawyers with Peltola played a role in the dishonest effort to confuse voters with decoy Dan Sullivans. Even if lawyers were willing to participate in such an effort to create mistaken votes, few would be willing to put themselves at such risk,” wrote George Washington University law Professor Jonathan Turley.

X user Darren observed that Republicans run spoiler candidates, too. His post provided links to four stories about races in Florida and Minnesota in 2020 and the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.

“Reality check for MAGAs suddenly outraged over Alaska: Republicans have been pulling similar stunts for years,” the post says. “Goose, meet gander.”

For his part, incumbent Sullivan is something of a weak sister.

His lifetime grade in the The New American’s Freedom Index is a miserable F: 56 percent. His best rating was 74 percent in the 117th Congress; his worst was 23 percent in the 116th.