The U.S. Justice Department has issued new grand jury subpoenas related to an Alaska Senate campaign controversy involving two candidates with similar names.
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The U.S. Justice Department has escalated a criminal investigation into an Alaska Senate campaign controversy involving two candidates who share the name “Dan Sullivan,” issuing new grand jury subpoenas that seek testimony or documents and also include records preservation demands, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The investigation relates to allegations that a candidate with a similar name to Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan entered the race to siphon votes from the incumbent. The person familiar with the matter said more subpoenas were expected, and that the investigation’s potential targets and the number of subpoena recipients were not immediately clear.
Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied that she knew about any effort to put another candidate on the ballot with the same name as the incumbent. Speaking in Juneau, Alaska, Peltola said she “knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent” and added, “I am not interested in tricking voters.”
Peltola dismissed calls for prosecution as intimidation, saying in a fundraising post that opponents “can’t win on their record so they’re trying to intimidate me into backing down.” She also called the dispute “just another distraction” from what she described as the high cost of living.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said he would not comment on criminal investigations, but accused Democrats of “cheating,” pointing to alleged efforts to take votes from the incumbent “by putting up a person with the same name.” Blanche said Democrats were seeking to “take votes away from the incumbent” rather than compete on issues.
The controversy has drawn statements from President Donald Trump and Alaska’s governor. Trump said he had doubts about whether Peltola would be seated even if she won, and later said he felt she “actually should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.” Separately, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into Peltola, saying reporting “reveals disturbing new evidence” of an organized effort to manipulate elections by recruiting candidates designed to confuse voters.
In Alaska, legal disputes earlier this year resulted in the name “Dan S. Sullivan” appearing on ballots as a registered Republican and incumbent, while “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” was listed without a party affiliation. A state elections official had previously ruled Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. ineligible for the primary ballot based on a conclusion that his candidacy filing was intended to confuse or mislead, but the Alaska Supreme Court later ruled he was qualified to run.
Independent voter Carter Bancroft said he voted Thursday for Peltola and that the latest claims bothered him because they could give “ammunition” to Trump and others to attack Peltola or other Democratic candidates. Independent voter John Delgado said he has “warmed up” to Sen. Sullivan and agreed that Peltola should drop out of the race, while also saying he was concerned about actions intended “to confuse things or try to trick people.”
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