Alaska Senate Race Faces Ballot Challenge After Report on Spoiler Candidate Recruitment

Voters in Alaska will face a confusing ballot on Tuesday, with two candidates named Dan Sullivan appearing for the same Senate seat. A New York Times investigation published Wednesday details a covert strategy by the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit spoiler candidates. The effort, internally dubbed the ballot composition project, aimed to divide the Republican vote. Both the Peltola campaign and the DSCC deny involvement, but former staff members say the plan was in motion for months.

The operation began in the summer of 2025. A staffer for Peltola was instructed to search state voter rolls for Alaskans named Dan Sullivan. The goal was to identify individuals who could run as Republicans to split the incumbent's support. This strategy resulted in the entry of Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg. He switched his party registration to Republican shortly before filing to run for the Senate seat.

Elisa Rios, who managed the Peltola campaign until her firing in August, told the Times that Peltola was definitely aware of the project. Rios stated that Alaskan voters need to know the full picture when making their decisions. She later attempted to retract her comments, but the newspaper cited text messages, internal documents, and 11 other sources to support her account.

Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative, is described as a central figure in the recruitment effort. He allegedly used aliases like Zane to meet potential recruits at local pubs and diners. Operatives offered outside financial support to persuade conservative and independent candidates to enter the race. They also pressured progressive candidate David Leslie to withdraw. This move cleared the path for Gerald Heikes, a drywall contractor, to secure the fourth spot on Alaska's ranked-choice ballot.

The report notes that campaign advisors and the DSCC considered creating a third-party MAGA party to pull votes from incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. They dropped this idea in May. Jacquelyn Lopez, an attorney at the Elias Law Group, represented both the DSCC and the Peltola campaign. Internal messages showed staff discussing follow-up actions regarding the MAGA party strategy with Lopez.

In a statement to the Times, the Peltola campaign said it had no involvement with the Sullivan campaigns and did not recruit any candidates. The DSCC said it had no role in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan or any other Republican candidate. A DSCC spokesperson told Fox News that Republicans used similar tactics, citing the recruitment of a prisoner with a New York address and the spending of nearly half a million dollars to secure a ballot spot for an Arizona resident.

President Donald Trump responded on Truth Social, calling the alleged scheme election fraud. He argued that Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan should not be allowed on the ballot. Trump wrote that the Democrats cheated and lied to the Court. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung posted on X about a secret, corrupt plan to stack Alaska's ballot.

The report arrives days before Election Day. The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election if Sullivan loses due to voter confusion over the two identical names. Under Alaska's four-person general election system, Peltola is the only Democrat on the ballot. She faces Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan, and Heikes on Tuesday.