US President Donald Trump greets Alaska’s incumbent Republican Senator Daniel S. Sullivan at a campaign rally earlier in October. Photo: Lindsey Wasson/AP/TT
Have the Democrats orchestrated a plot to seize a Senate seat from Alaska?
*The New York Times* claims as much, and US President Donald Trump has been quick to accuse his political opponents of “election fraud at the highest level.”
The situation in Alaska is complex, to say the least. The incumbent Republican senator, Daniel S. Sullivan, is being challenged in the midterm election—and not just by the Democrat, Mary Peltola. Two other Senate candidates appear on the ballot—one of whom is an independent, formerly Republican, who bears the confusingly similar name: Daniel J. Sullivan.
Daniel J. Sullivan has stated on several occasions that he is running entirely on his own initiative. However, *The New York Times* now reveals that the Democrats are behind this challenger. According to the newspaper, the party hopes to succeed by sowing confusion—essentially banking on inattentive voters casting their ballots for the wrong Daniel Sullivan.
Demands prosecution
The newspaper details an intricate scheme designed to promote the “right” candidate—in this instance, a former teacher from a small fishing village—to secure a Democratic Senate seat from the traditionally conservative state of Alaska. Elisa Rios, the former campaign manager for Peltola (a former member of the House of Representatives), states that Peltola herself was not directly involved but “was aware” of what was taking place.
“This is election fraud at the highest level,” thunders Donald Trump on his platform, Truth Social. He is demanding both the exclusion of "the fake" Sullivan from the election and criminal charges against him and the Democrat, Peltola.
A few hours after this was published, Alaska’s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy announced that he had ordered an investigation to determine whether charges should be brought.
Peltola countered by noting that Alaska’s election authority had already investigated objections regarding the identical names back in June and had given the candidates the green light.
**Preemptive Lawsuit*
This news comes just days after the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit in an Alaska court—a move intended to prevent the certification of the Senate election results, should the Republican candidate lose.
According to polls, the race between Peltola and Daniel S. Sullivan is extremely tight, and the AP reports that the Senate election is expected to be decided by a very narrow margin. The lawsuit, filed under the Trump administration, argues that the state would "fail to protect the integrity of the election" if Sullivan were to lose because voters cast their ballots for the "wrong" person.
"I’m the one who told them to do it," Trump said last week ahead of a campaign rally in Florida.
However, the lawsuit is considered unlikely to succeed, as elections in the United States are decided at the state level, without federal interference.
Mary Peltola has described the lawsuit as "flagrant corruption." It has also drawn criticism from Alaska’s other senator, Lisa Murkowski—a centrist Republican who has frequently been critical of Trump.
Facts
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