Alaska Governor Orders Probe Into Alleged Peltola Scheme

Alaska's Senate race just morphed into a criminal probe. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday ordered an investigation into whether Democrat Mary Peltola's Senate campaign broke the law by helping recruit a little-known independent candidate, retiree Dan J. Sullivan, who shares a name with fellow candidate GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, per the New York Times. The move follows a Times report detailing the role of Democratic operatives, including senior advisers to the Peltola campaign, in getting the second Sullivan on the ballot, a tactic critics say was meant to siphon GOP votes.

President Trump has called for Peltola's removal from the ballot and prosecution, dubbing the maneuver "voter fraud at the highest level," though Alaska's Supreme Court has already ruled that a candidate's motives aren't grounds for disqualification. Both Sullivans, Peltola, and a fourth candidate, remain on Tuesday's ballot, with a Washington Post analysis of polls showing Peltola leading by an average of five points. She calls the reporting "just another distraction." Other Democrats argue Republicans have employed similar tactics in various states, including providing financial backing for an incarcerated out-of-state Democrat running for an Alaska House seat.