Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) suggested Thursday that the state’s midterm election certification process may be stopped or changed following allegations of a candidate recruitment scheme. The governor directed the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola was involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) to confuse voters.
The investigation follows an Oct. 28 report by The New York Times alleging that Peltola’s campaign and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) worked to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, to run as a non-incumbent. The Peltola campaign and the DSCC have denied any involvement with Sullivan Jr., and the candidate himself stated in June that he had no contact with Peltola’s team.
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has expanded an existing lawsuit seeking to block election certification in Alaska if the incumbent senator loses. On Wednesday, the DOJ amended its complaint to include details from the news report. Attorney General Todd Blanche characterized the alleged recruitment as cheating during a Wednesday television appearance. Meanwhile, Alaska election officials have asked a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit, stating it has no legal basis.
Voters in Alaska will see two similar names on their ballots: "Dan S. Sullivan," identified as a "registered Republican" and "incumbent," and "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.," who has no party affiliation. Legal experts, including Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School and Ruth Greenwood of Harvard Law School, noted that recruiting a candidate is generally not a crime and that individuals have a constitutional right to run for office. However, Gov. Dunleavy stated the investigation will determine if any state laws were violated by what he described as a "ruse that could throw an election."
The outcome of the probe could set a precedent for how states handle "spoiler" candidates and name-similarity challenges in ranked-choice voting systems. The immediate effect for Alaskans is the potential for a prolonged period without a certified Senate representative following the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election. A federal court must still rule on the DOJ's request to block certification, and the state's Department of Public Safety has not yet provided a deadline for its criminal and civil inquiry.