Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.
The Justice Department issued subpoenas, a House oversight committee sought interviews and the state opened its own inquiry into a Democratic plan to recruit a spoiler into a Senate race.
Republican anger grew on Thursday over a Democratic effort to stack Alaskaβs Senate ballot with candidates to siphon votes from the G.O.P. incumbent.
The other Dan Sullivan in Alaska has drawn the most attention, but both parties are quietly trying to use little-known candidates in other battlegrounds to siphon votes, too.
Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher in Alaska, was recruited by Democratic operatives to join the race against Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, whose allies have been left worrying that voters will be confused.
Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into the Democratic candidate running for the U.S. Senate in the state after revelations that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting another candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
President Trump had lashed out at Mary Peltola after The New York Times reported that her campaign and national Democrats helped recruit spoiler candidates to the race. He offered no explanation of what crime may have been committed.
President Trump campaigned this month for Senator Dan S. Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican running for re-election this year against Mary Peltola, a Democrat and former congresswoman.
President Donald Trump called for the criminal prosecution of the Democratic candidate running for Senate in Alaska on Wednesday after revelations that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
Operatives aligned with Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee for Senate, spent months recruiting candidates to peel votes from Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican.
A sample ballot showing candidates for next weekβs U.S. Senate race in Alaska lists two Dan Sullivans (highlight added here to both), along with Mary Peltola, the Democrat, and a fourth candidate named Gerald Heikes.
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.
No obvious legal authority supports a pre-emptive effort to block the certification of Alaskaβs Senate election if the Republican incumbent narrowly loses.
The lawsuit centers on one of the president's longstanding complaints in the Senate race β 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.
Alaska could play a pivotal role in Democrats' efforts to reclaim control of the Senate. In a debate, Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan faced questions about rising fuel costs driven by the war with Iran and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola pushed back against allegations that she mistreated staff members. Geoff Bennett discussed the race with Lori Townsend of Alaska Public Media.
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