Alaska Governor Opens Inquiry Into Senate Ballot Name Match Involving Sullivan and Peltola

Alaska's governor has directed an inquiry into the Democratic Senate campaign after reporting indicated it worked to place a candidate sharing the incumbent Republican's surname on the state's ballots.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued the order through social media overnight. He cited New York Times reporting that described recruiting candidates, including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator, as an effort to manipulate Alaska's elections. Dunleavy wrote that this reporting substantially supports earlier findings by the state's elections board.

The state's top election official ruled earlier this year that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, was ineligible for the primary ballot. The official found his declaration of candidacy was filed "with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality." The Alaska Supreme Court later ruled he was qualified to run. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. has denied any contact with Peltola's campaign, saying in June, "Zero, none, zilch."

Alaska ballots will show "Dan S. Sullivan" as a registered Republican and incumbent, while "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr." will carry no party affiliation. The New York Times reported that interviews, text messages, and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit showed Mary Peltola's team aimed to coax candidates into the race to split support for the GOP senator.

President Donald Trump previously directed the Department of Justice to sue to block certification of the race if Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. remains on the ballot. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters, "I think they should be prosecuted." Peltola, a former congresswoman, responded at a campaign stop in Soldotna. "This is just another distraction. It's another diversion," she said in a video posted online.