President Donald Trump has called for a criminal investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola, who is challenging Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s Senate seat.
The demand came after federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska reportedly began an “aggressive criminal investigation” into how a second candidate named Dan Sullivan qualified for the ballot, Fox News reported Wednesday evening.
The Last Frontier’s Senate contest has become an extraordinary political battle, with Trump-backed incumbent Sullivan facing Peltola and another candidate who shares his name.
Republicans allege that the second Sullivan is a liberal decoy designed to siphon votes from the incumbent. They have dubbed him “Decoy Dan.”
A new report by The New York Times has intensified those accusations, suggesting the claims may have merit.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday evening, Trump said Peltola should withdraw from the race and argued that she and the Democratic Party “should be prosecuted.”
“To me, that’s voter fraud at the highest level,” he said.
Earlier, in a post on Truth Social, Trump cited the Times report alleging that Peltola’s campaign took part in a “monthslong secret plan” to recruit the “fake” Dan Sullivan.
He said Peltola should “suffer the legal and political consequences for what she has done, a fraud on the American public.”
“Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or fake Dan Sullivan on the ballot,” he added.
Trump ordered a lawsuit against Alaska last week if the “real” Dan Sullivan does not win the Senate race
A new investigation by The New York Times uncovered an alleged Democratic effort to recruit Alaskans named Dan Sullivan
In a rare move, Donald Trump highlighted The New York Times’ reporting on Truth Social
According to the Times, a staffer working for Peltola was instructed to identify as many people named Dan Sullivan as possible.
The alleged effort eventually produced a candidate. In the spring, a retired teacher from a small fishing village announced plans to run for the Senate as Dan Sullivan.
The two candidates are distinguished only by their middle initials. The incumbent, whom Trump calls the “real” Dan Sullivan, is Dan S. Sullivan, while the other candidate’s full name is Dan J. Sullivan.
The Peltola campaign denied having any role in his candidacy in a statement to Our News Outlet.
However, the Times investigation cited interviews, text messages and documents that it said showed Peltola’s team attempted to recruit several people named Dan Sullivan as part of a broad strategy to improve her chances of victory.
The reported effort was known as the Ballot Composition Project and allegedly involved a “mysterious Midwestern operative” who traveled around Alaska recruiting potential candidates, including by meeting them in pubs.
Attorneys for the Peltola campaign and senior officials at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were also reportedly involved in the effort.
The investigation additionally found that Democrats considered forming a new political party in an attempt to attract Republican voters.
The revelations came after Trump personally directed the Justice Department to sue Alaska in an extraordinary attempt to prevent certification of the Senate election results if the incumbent loses.
“I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters Friday as he arrived in Florida for a campaign rally, confirming his involvement in the lawsuit filed by his administration the previous Thursday.
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Trump has repeatedly accused Democrats of backing a rival candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. in an effort to divert votes from the sitting senator.
Vice President JD Vance reinforced those claims Tuesday. “When you put a person on the ballot explicitly to try to confuse voters, I think that’s the definition of electoral fraud. And I don’t think that we should endorse it,” he told reporters.
The race remains close. A Data for Progress poll conducted October 8–16 showed Peltola ahead of Sullivan, 51 percent to 49 percent.
Democratic candidate Mary Peltola is challenging incumbent Dan Sullivan
A spokesperson for the Sullivan campaign told Our News Outlet: “Not one player in this operation has acted in good faith with Alaska voters. Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans while denying a scheme they were running all along.”
“We always knew this was a coordinated effort to deceive Alaskans, and Mary Peltola hoped it would remain hidden until after the election.”
The report could reshape the contest in Sullivan’s favor and represents another setback for Peltola, who faced a further blow last Sunday.
Peltola and members of her family were injured in an overnight car crash, disrupting her campaign once again.
That same day, Our News Outlet reported on the Democrat’s personal tragedies, including the deaths of her mother and husband within four months of each other in 2023.
Although Alaska has fewer than one million residents, the Senate race has attracted exceptional national attention.
Trump traveled to Alaska earlier this month to campaign for Sullivan’s re-election.
During the visit, he repeated his promise to give every adult American $5,000, while adding a condition.
Trump said he would “give all adult citizens in the United States $5,000” if Republicans retained control of both chambers of Congress in November.
“You gotta spend it in the United States of America,” the president added. “I don’t want you going to China.”
The pledge came as the soaring cost of living in Alaska emerged as a central issue in the unusual Senate contest.
In late August, a store in Shungnak, a village in northwest Alaska, drew national attention after listing regular gasoline at an astonishing $26.82 per gallon.
“Just yesterday, the price was $13.99, but now it is 26.82,” Douglas told the Alaska Beacon.
A sample ballot in Anchorage, Alaska, displays both candidates named Daniel Sullivan
Earlier this month, Peltola posted images from a rural Alaska grocery store showing 12 rolls of paper towels priced at up to $40.99 and a package of paper plates selling for $53.99.
The state’s fishing industry could also play a decisive role. Peltola has built her campaign around the slogan “Fish, Family, Freedom,” making fisheries a key issue for voters.
The Native American candidate grew up salmon fishing with her father. She supports banning large out-of-state trawlers and creating stronger financial protections for local fishermen.
Sullivan, meanwhile, has focused on keeping unregulated foreign seafood fleets out of Alaska’s waters and U.S. markets.
The Daily Mail contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska and the DSCC for comment.
