The last one: “Mary entered this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who fights to cut costs and put Alaska first, and no tweet or threat from a Washington politician will keep her from this fight,” an Alaskans for Mary spokesperson said in a Wednesday evening email.
- “The Alaskans for Mary campaign is not involved in any of the Sullivan campaigns.”
- The campaign confirmed that no assertions have been made in federal court about how Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy came about or who was involved in his decision to run.
Driving the news: The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola’s campaign aides worked with a veteran Democrat named Jerid Kurtz, who the Times described as experienced in election-related political tactics.
- A member of Peltola’s staff was allegedly ordered to search for every Dan Sullivan in the state. The effort ultimately located Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who registered as a Republican shortly before running for office, according to the Times.
- Dan J. Sullivan previously said he voted for Democrats in the last three presidential elections. He subsequently changed his party registration to undeclared and will appear on the November ballot without a political party label.
What they say: “It has just been determined that Alaska Democrats illegally sought out and recruited a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse and obfuscate the election, thereby taking votes away from the REAL Senator, Dan Sullivan,” Trump wrote in an article published Wednesday afternoon on Truth Social.
- “The Democrats’ false statements were made under oath in federal court. They therefore perjured themselves and should be held accountable for very serious consequences,” he added.
- “Mary Peltola should face legal and political consequences for what she did, A FRAUD AGAINST THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the ballot.”
- Trump has presented no evidence to support his claims that Peltola committed election fraud.
State of play: The Trump administration, concerned that Dan J. Sullivan might affect the outcome of the race, also sued Alaska to delay certification of the Senate election results if incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan narrowly lost, pending an investigation into possible voter confusion.
- Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sought to intervene in the lawsuit and asked a federal judge to dismiss it.
- The ACLU, League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause are also seeking to join the case.
- Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Go further: DOJ sues to delay Alaska election results if GOP incumbent loses
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from the Peltola campaign.
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