Alaska Senate race faces scrutiny as Trump demands criminal probe

For voters in Alaska, the choice on Tuesday’s ballot includes a potential complication that has drawn the attention of the White House. President Donald Trump demanded the criminal prosecution of Democrat Mary Peltola on Wednesday. He made the call following reports that her campaign played a role in recruiting a candidate who shares the name of her Republican rival, Senator Dan Sullivan.

The dispute centers on a text message exchange obtained by The New York Times. The messages show Peltola’s staff discussing the recruitment of a second Dan Sullivan. That candidate is a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, a small fishing community. He cleared the state’s open primary in August and now appears on the ranked-choice ballot for the general election. He is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party affiliation, while the incumbent is listed as Republican Dan Sullivan.

Trump directed his Department of Justice to sue to block the certification of the Senate seat if Peltola wins. He stated he believes the candidates should be prosecuted for their actions. On social media, he wrote that Peltola should face legal and political consequences. Senator Sullivan appeared on Fox News on Wednesday night and urged his opponent to come clean. He told Alaskans to look Mary Peltola in the eye and ask if she cheated, claiming she would not answer the question.

Peltola’s campaign responded by calling the media report a distraction. In a video posted from a stop in Soldotna, she argued the coverage was a diversion from issues like Senator Sullivan’s support for the war in Iran. She described the story as material used to sell newspapers and get subscriptions. Her campaign released a statement saying Mary Peltola entered the race because Alaskans deserve a champion to lower costs and put Alaska first. They maintained that no tweet or threat from a D.C. politician would keep her away from that fight.

The second candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, has long denied he is running at the behest of Democrats. He told reporters in June that he had zero, none, and zilch contact with Peltola’s campaign. He did not respond to a message seeking comment on Wednesday. Earlier this year, a top state elections official ruled him ineligible for the primary ballot. The official found his declaration was filed to confuse voters and compromise ballot fairness. The Alaska Supreme Court reversed that decision and ruled him qualified to run.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who has endorsed Sullivan and is a longtime friend of Peltola, issued a statement on Wednesday. She said Alaskans deserve the honest truth from Peltola and her team. Murkowski described the revelations as a pattern of lies and coverups that belong nowhere in Alaska’s elections. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also denied involvement, though the Times report indicated DSCC staffers were in the text threads. A similar statement from Peltola’s campaign in June said they had no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.

Legal experts note that the new details may not change the recent DOJ lawsuit. Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame, called the tactic a dirty campaign trick. He said it was a good reason the Supreme Court should have removed the candidate from the ballot, but now the decision is in the hands of voters rather than litigation. The New York Times based its story partly on interviews with Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who was fired in August. The paper reported she tried to retract her comments last week.

Alaska has a history of ballot disputes. In 2024, the state Democratic Party sued to keep a man serving time in a New York federal prison off the House ballot. A divided state Supreme Court allowed him to stay. He is running again this year and is on the November 3 ballot. More than 61,000 ballots had been cast in Alaska through Tuesday, according to AP data. The general election is scheduled for next Tuesday.