A New York Times investigation revealed an alleged effort by operatives tied and Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit a second Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s ballot — but the report came as nearly 1 in 10 registered Alaska voters had already cast ballots.
The timing means roughly 58, 000 voters may have made their choices before learning of the reported effort that critics say was intended to create confusion with a same-name candidate. Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC have denied involvement.
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Dan J. Sullivan made it to the four-candidate general election earlier this year after winning 2. 5% of the vote in the primary. His campaign announcement did not list a party affiliation. His website does not state his position on any political issues.
"Dan Sullivan challenges Dan Sullivan for U. S. Senate Seat, urges Alaskans to defeat incumbent, elect a Sullivan who stands up for Alaska," it read.
The New York Times reported that the effort to recruit potential Republican spoiler candidates included Dan J. Sullivan. The effort spanned coordination between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) to Peltola staffers, according to text messages, interviews and internal documents.
According to a source interviewed by the New York Times, Peltola was aware of the efforts.
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The the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit last week, seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan is defeated, citing the possible confusion. It’s unclear if the DOJ is likely to succeed on those grounds.
In the meantime, the state’s ranked-choice voting system is further complicating the election picture for Sen. Sullivan.
Under this system, voters rank their preferred candidates. If their top choice is eliminated, their support passes on to their next-ranked option. While supporters of the process argue it expands voters' power and greatly increases the influence of candidates that may not otherwise be a top choice, critics believe it also introduces confusion.
Alaska state Sen. James Kaufman, a Republican, is one of those critics.
Kaufman fears that some voters won’t bother to fill out both the "Sullivans" on the ballot to cover their bases.
He believes there are still some voters in Alaska, especially Republicans, who refuse to use the system, citing disagreements with its implementation.
"Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote," Kaufman said in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this year.
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"And so, the ballot fatigue where people just don’t rank because maybe they disagree with it; there’s a pretty strong segment of the population here that just patently disagrees with the rank-choice voting system we ended up with. And they don’t necessarily believe in utilizing it," he added.
Less than a week remains before the Nov. 3 general election.