Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Thursday that he is ordering an investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign after a report that she worked with allies to recruit a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan in an effort to dilute her votes.
The Department of Public Safety would seek to determine “whether this project violated Alaska laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted,” Dunleavy said in a message to X overnight. “The evidence will determine what happens next.” »
Dunleavy, a Republican, called Wednesday’s revelations in an explosive New York Times report “disturbing new evidence” and said “any person or organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable.”
Also Thursday, President Donald Trump cast doubt on whether Republicans would seat Peltola if she wins her race.
Asked by a reporter if he thought Republicans should refuse to seat Peltola if she won, Trump responded, “You’re going to have to see what happens.” He added that it was “hard to believe she could even be allowed to run.”
The Times has published an explosive report detailing the campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s alleged efforts to recruit a Senate candidate with the same name as the outgoing president, citing interviews with 12 people involved in or who were briefed on the plan, or contacted as potential recruits. The report also cites dozens of text messages between participants.
The Times report included information from Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, who was fired in August. Rios then contacted the Times and “retracted all statements made regarding the 2026 Alaska Senate race,” the outlet said. He also said she had planned to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the campaign, but did not do so.
The Times’ revelations shook the race to a critical battleground. Republicans have widely condemned Democrats for allegedly trying to manipulate the vote in an attempt to confuse voters — an accusation the Republican Party has made since the second Sullivan entered the race.
NBC News previously reported that Sullivan’s second bid was under investigation by state and federal prosecutors in Alaska, and that a grand jury had issued subpoenas seeking information about witnesses linked to his campaign in August. The Justice Department also filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block certification of the election if incumbent Sullivan loses.
NBC News contacted the Peltola campaign following Dunleavy’s announcement.
Contacted for comment on the governor’s post, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee provided a statement given to other media outlets.
“DSCC is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan,” the spokesperson said, adding that Republicans “have a long history of recruiting and supporting candidates in an effort to boost their own campaigns.”
Contacted Wednesday for comment on the Times article, a spokesperson for Peltola’s campaign said the campaign “has no involvement with either of Sullivan’s campaigns.” The campaign also highlighted instances where Republicans allegedly supported “spoiler” candidates.
NBC News previously reported that the people who worked to recruit challenger Sullivan did not necessarily violate the law.
Stephen Richer, an election analyst for NBC News, said those involved in recruiting could be legally innocent if there was “no incentive, like money or threats” and the candidate ran “of their own volition, even if we disagree with the reasons the person is choosing to run.”
The Times reported no evidence that Sullivan was coerced, and it said he entered the race of his own accord.
Following the report, Trump demanded that Peltola and his challenger Sullivan be “removed from the ballot and prosecuted.”
Asked by a reporter whether he agreed that Peltola should be prosecuted, Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that “we should certainly look at whether she committed election fraud.”
“She’s trying to steal a Senate seat from the voters of Alaska, and it’s shameful,” he later said. “So whether it was criminal or not, she certainly committed, I think, a serious moral failing, and I hope the voters of Alaska punish her.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., also said Thursday that his committee is requesting transcribed interviews with Rios and a Democratic operative, Jerid Kurtz, who was allegedly involved in recruiting challenger Dan Sullivan.
“If you do not voluntarily appear for the interview, we will be forced to evaluate the use of a mandatory procedure,” Comer wrote in letters to both men.
The Times reported that Kurtz did not respond to repeated requests for comment and made his social media accounts private.
Both Democrats and Republicans have a history of trying to support candidates who can attract votes from their primary opponents.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called Peltola’s campaign effort “unprecedented” in an interview Thursday on Fox News, saying he believed the Sullivan saga “was a concerted effort to manipulate and deceive Alaska voters.”
“The voters of Alaska are going to understand this,” he said.
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