Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign over an alleged effort to place a decoy candidate with the same name as her Republican opponent on the ballot, just days before Election Day.
Dunleavy said Wednesday night that investigators would determine whether the campaign could face criminal charges or civil penalties. The announcement followed a New York Times report detailing efforts to recruit Dan J. Sullivan, a retiree, to challenge Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.
In a post on X, Dunleavy said misleading voters into supporting the wrong candidate strikes at the core of election integrity. He added that anyone who violated the law would be held responsible.
The investigation began just hours after Donald Trump called for Peltola to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted, although he did not identify a specific crime.
Trump described the alleged operation as “voter fraud at the highest level” while traveling to a rally in Ohio. He also demanded that the second Sullivan be removed from the ballot.
The alleged “Decoy Dan” operation reportedly involved senior members of Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party’s principal Senate campaign organization.
The groups recruited the retiree because he shares the Republican senator’s first and last names and lives in a small Alaska fishing village.
Both Sullivans are scheduled to appear on Tuesday’s ballot alongside Peltola and a fourth candidate, Gerald Heikes.
Trump called the alleged operation “voter fraud at the highest level” on his way to a rally in Ohio and urged officials to remove the decoy Sullivan from the ballot
Dunleavy said Wednesday night that investigators would determine whether Peltola’s campaign could face criminal charges or civil penalties
This combination photo shows Trump-backed Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, left, in Palmer, Alaska, on August 17, 2026, alongside another candidate named Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race
A New York Times investigation reported that staffers for Peltola, Sullivan’s Democratic opponent, recruited other men named Dan Sullivan to enter the race in an effort to improve her prospects
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Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared to acknowledge on Fox News Wednesday that the alleged scheme may not have violated existing law, while arguing that it should have been illegal.
The Justice Department had already filed a lawsuit at Trump’s direction, asking a federal court to block certification of the race if Sen. Sullivan loses. The complaint, however, did not identify a specific illegal act.
The lawsuit accuses Daniel J. Sullivan—who says he supported Democrats in the last three presidential elections and voted for Peltola in her 2022 and 2024 House campaigns—of attempting to make Alaska voters believe he is the incumbent senator.
Chief Judge Sharon Gleason of the US District Court in Alaska expedited the case and gave federal attorneys until Thursday afternoon to respond to a motion seeking its dismissal.
Gleason also noted that the administration waited until Alaskans had begun voting before filing the suit. The case came nearly four months after the state’s highest court ordered Daniel J. Sullivan’s name placed on the ballot.
Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC have sought to intervene in the lawsuit. On Wednesday, the administration withdrew its opposition, pointing to the Times report as evidence of an extensive effort to mislead Alaska voters with a candidate it described as a front.
Peltola dismissed the revelations during a rally Wednesday, characterizing them as a distraction.
A spokesman for Sen. Sullivan accused Peltola’s campaign of misleading Alaskans for months while denying that the alleged operation existed.
The alleged decoy candidate’s campaign website is shown identifying him as a Republican US Senate candidate
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said manipulating the ballot has no place in American elections, accusing Peltola’s campaign of deceiving Alaskans and attempting to conceal its actions.
Democrats have countered that recruiting candidates to influence the field is a common political tactic and said Republicans have used similar strategies in several states, including Alaska.
Lauren French, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC, pointed to a Republican-aligned super PAC that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting Democratic and Green Party candidates in Alaska’s Senate primary this year.
