The full reportThe full report

Summary

Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has ordered the state Department of Public Safety to investigate whether an effort to put a second Dan Sullivan on the U.S. Senate ballot broke Alaska law. The order followed a New York Times report on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, that people connected to the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, and senior aides at the Democrats' national Senate campaign committee, tried to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, to draw votes from the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. Peltola's campaign and the committee deny involvement, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. says he entered the race on his own. The election is Tuesday, November 3. Election law experts quoted by the BBC said it is unclear whether any state law was broken.

What happened

Dunleavy announced the investigation on X late on Wednesday (CNN). He described "an organized effort to manipulate Alaska's elections by recruiting candidates—including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator—to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes," and wrote: "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. The evidence will determine what happens next" (New York Post). The Department of Public Safety is the state agency that includes the Alaska State Troopers (DPS). His statement did not name the Peltola campaign or say which laws he had in mind, and it said the Times' reporting supported findings the state Division of Elections made earlier this year (BBC).

What the Times reported, as summarized by other outlets (we could not read the Times article itself): that people connected to Peltola's campaign and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the party's national committee for Senate races, worked to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. as part of a wider effort to bring "spoiler" candidates into the race. The paper said it had seen text messages and interviewed 12 people who took part in the plan, were told of it, or were approached to run. The BBC said it had not independently verified the reporting (BBC). According to the New York Post's account of the Times story, a longtime Democratic operative, Jerid Kurtz, contacted Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., and Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, told the Times that Peltola was "definitely aware" of the effort but not actively involved (New York Post). Rios told the Times that DSCC aides introduced Kurtz to Peltola's aides, CNN reported (CNN live).

Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. lives in Petersburg, a small fishing community. He has denied any links with the Peltola campaign (BBC) and has said he decided to run on his own (AP).

What a spoiler candidate is, and how Alaska's ballot works

A spoiler is a candidate who is unlikely to win but can pull votes away from a stronger candidate, changing who does win. The Associated Press calls clogging a ballot to "siphon off votes from the other major party" a "long-standing tactic in the country's two-party system" (AP). In this race, CNN reports, Republican groups funded a super PAC that promoted a lesser-known Democrat and a Green Party candidate in the primary (CNN). Election law specialist Rick Hasen told CNN this case is "basically a more extreme version of what the parties do all the time" (CNN); in June, the state's election director called the facts around the second Sullivan's filing "utterly unprecedented" (Division of Elections).

Alaska's system has two steps (Division of Elections):

• A single primary for everyone. All candidates for an office appear on one ballot, whatever their party, and each voter picks one. The four who get the most votes go on to the general election. A party label on the ballot only says how a candidate is registered; it does not mean the party nominated or endorsed them.
• Ranked choice in the general election. Voters rank as many or as few candidates as they like. If no one has a majority of first choices, the last-place candidate is dropped and those ballots move to each voter's next choice. The rounds continue until a winner emerges.

This year's Senate ballot lists four names: Gerald L. Heikes (registered Republican), Mary Peltola (registered Democrat), "Sullivan, Dan S." (registered Republican, marked as the incumbent) and "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." (undeclared, with no party label) (candidate list). In the August primary the senator received more than 68,000 votes and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. received 4,107, about 2 percent; Peltola received the most votes (AP).

Why the same name matters: the Justice Department's lawsuit argues the two names could confuse voters and change the outcome (AP). Under ranked choice, a voter unsure which Sullivan is which can rank both men (BBC).

How we got here

• May 29, 2026: Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. filed to run for the Senate seat. The National Republican Senatorial Committee asked state election officials to investigate whether he had entered the race to confuse voters (Ballotpedia).
• June 15: After complaints from the Alaska Republican Party, Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher, a Republican, ruled him ineligible. She found his declaration of candidacy was "filed with the purpose of confusing or misleading the electorate," citing his request to appear as "Dan Sullivan," a form of his name the division had no record of him using, and his switch to the Republican Party two days before filing (Division of Elections). Peltola's campaign and the Alaska Democratic Party denied involvement in his campaign (Ballotpedia).
• June 26: Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews in Anchorage ruled that he must stay on the ballot (Ballotpedia).
• June 29: The Alaska Supreme Court let that ruling stand and left it to the division to decide how to list him. The division then listed him as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." with no party, and the senator as a "(Registered Republican) Incumbent" (Anchorage Daily News).
• August 18: The top-four primary; Peltola, both Sullivans and Heikes advanced (AP; candidate list).
• October 22: The Justice Department sued in federal court in Alaska to block certification of a Peltola win if Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. stays on the ballot, "pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan." Trump said the next day, "I'm the one that said do it" (AP).
• October 28: The Times published its report. The Justice Department told the federal judge it wanted evidence from Peltola's campaign (CNN). Late that night, Dunleavy ordered the investigation.
• October 29: Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, opened an investigation and sent letters demanding that Rios and Kurtz appear for transcribed interviews on November 5 and 6 (CNN live).

What each side says

Republicans. Dunleavy wrote: "Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections. Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable" (New York Post). Sen. Dan S. Sullivan told Fox News's Sean Hannity: "I am pressing my opponent to come clean. She's been lying for over a year" (CNN). The BBC reported that he described it as a scandal of the highest order (BBC). President Trump wrote that Peltola "should be removed from the Ballot and prosecuted" and "So should the FAKE Dan Sullivan" (CNN), and on Thursday would not say whether Republicans should seat her if she wins: "you're going to have to see what happens" (CNN live). Senate Majority Leader John Thune called it "totally dirty pool" but suggested that whether it was illegal was an open question (CNN live).

Peltola, her campaign and Democrats. Peltola's campaign said, in a statement written before the governor's order: "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign," adding that "no tweet or threat from any DC politician will keep her away from that fight" (BBC). At a campaign stop in Soldotna, Peltola suggested the report was a "distraction" from issues such as the cost of living, and said: "This is all stuff to sell newspapers. This is all stuff to get subscriptions" (New York Post). The DSCC said it "is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan" (New York Post). A spokesperson for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he "had no knowledge of the activities described in the New York Times report and was not involved in any way" (CNN live). Democrats point out that Republican groups, including a super PAC aligned with Thune, funded efforts to boost some of Peltola's opponents in the primary (CNN live).

The second Dan Sullivan. In June he said: "I am a qualified candidate who followed the rules and filed to run for office under my legal name" (Ballotpedia). He has said he is running because he believes the senator has done a poor job, and he has rejected accusations that he is trying to trick voters (Anchorage Daily News).

Election law experts. Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School, a former Justice Department official: "It turns out that convincing somebody to run for office is not a crime, even if their name happens to be the same as an incumbent" (BBC). Derek Muller of Notre Dame Law School: "It, I think, makes the Peltola campaign look bad," though he said it likely "won't affect things" in the litigation at this stage (CNN).

What happens next

• The state investigation: The Department of Public Safety will look at whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. Dunleavy wrote that "the evidence will determine what happens next" (New York Post).
• The ballot: Election law experts quoted by the BBC said the report is unlikely to remove Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. from the ballot (BBC). The Division of Elections says it is bound by the Alaska Supreme Court's order (CNN).
• The federal lawsuit: Alaska's election officials have asked the federal court to dismiss the Justice Department's suit, saying the complaint "has no legal basis" (BBC); a state spokesperson said the Times report has "no impact on the current litigation" (CNN).
• Congress: If Rios and Kurtz do not appear voluntarily, the House Oversight Committee says it may consider subpoenas (CNN live).
• The count: Election Day is November 3. Because of ranked-choice counting, many expect it to take weeks before a winner is known (AP).

How it was covered

15 of the 15 outlets on our panel covered it: 5 of 5 on the left, 5 of 5 in the center and 5 of 5 on the right (checked October 29, 2026). The Reel showed one headline per side: The New York Times, "Alaska Governor Orders Investigation Into Peltola Campaign Over Second Dan Sullivan Recruitment Claims"; BBC News, "Alaska governor orders probe into Democratic campaign's alleged links to same-name candidate"; and the New York Post, "Alaska governor orders probe of Mary Peltola Senate campaign over 'Decoy Dan' Sullivan scandal." Every outlet on the panel ran a story, so there are none we found missing. Every outlet's headline, link and date is on the [story page](/stories/2026-10-29-alaska-second-sullivan-probe/#coverage). [How we rate outlets and count coverage](/method/).

Sources

The [story page](/stories/2026-10-29-alaska-second-sullivan-probe/#sources) lists the main sources; every other source is linked in the text above.

Corrections

None as of October 29, 2026. See the [corrections log](/stories/2026-10-29-alaska-second-sullivan-probe/#corrections).