Republicans have condemned the presence of two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, calling it a ploy to split votes

Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign was behind an effort to recruit a challenger with almost the same name as the Republican US senator Dan Sullivan, both of whom will appear on the ballot in next week’s midterm elections, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Republicans have condemned the presence in the race of two candidates named Dan Sullivan – one the two-term US senator, the second a retiree living in south-eastern Alaska with scant political experience – calling the newcomer a ploy by Democrats to cost the incumbent re-election by splitting his supporters.

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© Composite: AP, Bloomberg, Abaca, Getty Images

© Composite: AP, Bloomberg, Abaca, Getty Images

© Composite: AP, Bloomberg, Abaca, Getty Images

Operatives aligned with Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee for Senate, spent months recruiting candidates to peel votes from Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican.

© Haven Daley/Associated Press

When Americans cast their ballots in this year's midterm elections, they'll not only be picking who represents them in Congress, but also weighing in on a range of topics that could change their state laws and constitutions.

Democrats are targeting G.O.P. strongholds that could set them up for new majorities. But if they don’t win those races now, it could be a long time before they have another chance.

© Clayton Steward for The New York Times

Peltola required medical attention after the accident, which happened when another vehicle crashed into the one transporting Peltola and her family, the campaign said.

Blanche told CNN's "State of the Union" that President Donald Trump, who said Friday that he was "the one that said do it," is not trying to overturn state election results "in any way, shape or form" on the cusp of the Nov. 3 election.

“There is no legal excuse” for the failure of 18 polling sites to open for early voting, a state lawmaker said.

© Kerry Tasker/Reuters

With moves in Alaska and California, the department has stepped up interventions in the midterm elections as the president’s instrument of unmediated executive power.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

One of them is a Republican senator and ally of the president. The other is a retired schoolteacher whom Republicans accuse of being a Democratic plant to siphon away votes.

Hope, dread and the final stretch to Election Day.

© The New York Times

President Trump told the Justice Department to intervene in the race, where polling shows Republicans at risk of losing a seat.

© Kerry Tasker/Reuters

Interviews and documents show a Russian energy giant secretly funded a U.S. firm. The deal has been discussed in talks to end the war in Ukraine.

© Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

No obvious legal authority supports a pre-emptive effort to block the certification of Alaska’s Senate election if the Republican incumbent narrowly loses.

© Kerry Tasker for The New York Times

The department, in a highly unusual lawsuit, argued that confusion over candidates with similar names could taint the election result.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump is making a final push to help Republicans maintain control of Congress as some of the most closely watched races remain competitive. But the battle for the Senate is also playing out in court. In Alaska, the Trump administration sued to potentially block certification of the election if the Republican incumbent loses. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports.

The lawsuit centers on one of the president's longstanding complaints in the Senate race — the presence of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan who Republicans fear could siphon away votes from the incumbent in what's likely to be a photo-finish contest with Democrat Mary Peltola.