The Justice Department escalated its fight over Alaska's Senate race on two fronts on Thursday: more than 40 subpoenas in a criminal investigation of the "second Dan Sullivan" affair, and an amended lawsuit asking a federal judge to block certification of the result if the namesake candidate stays on the ballot. Both tracks rest on the same allegation — that people connected to Democratic nominee Mary Peltola's campaign and to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recruited a retired Petersburg teacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run under Sen. Dan S. Sullivan's name and drain votes from the Republican incumbent.
The subpoenas, issued with requests to preserve documents and with more expected, went to recipients including Peltola's campaign and Daniel J. Sullivan's campaign, according to a source familiar with the matter; the department has not confirmed them publicly. The probe is reported to be examining whether the recruitment effort violated federal conspiracy laws.
In the civil case, United States v. State of Alaska, before Judge Sharon Gleason, the department folded the New York Times investigation published on Wednesday into an amended complaint. "Although what the New York Times reports is not always true, its reporting here aligns with what the United States has been alleging on information and belief. It also aligns with common sense," its lawyers wrote. The complaint names Jerid Kurtz, the Democratic operative identified as a recruiter, and quotes an internal DSCC group chat — "Other Dan won, will be on ballot" — that drew heart-emoji reactions from two Peltola aides and a DSCC staffer. It warns that certifying results "tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan" would fail Alaska's obligation "to protect the integrity of its election."
The lawsuit was filed on October 22 and originally asked the court to hold certification if Sen. Sullivan loses by less than the votes the other Sullivan pulls. On Wednesday, Judge Gleason allowed Peltola's campaign and the DSCC to join the case, after the department dropped its opposition and announced it will seek expedited discovery. Alaska's election officials are asking the judge to throw the suit out; no court has blocked anything or ruled on the merits.
Underneath it all is the Times investigation, which reported — from interviews, text messages and documents — that Peltola campaign staff and lawyers and senior DSCC aides ran a "ballot composition project" from the summer of 2025, hunting for Alaskans named Dan Sullivan. Its central source, former Peltola campaign manager Elisa Rios, said Peltola was not directly involved but was "definitely aware"; Rios, fired in August, later sought to retract her interviews. Sullivan filed days before the June deadline, and Alaska's courts put him on the ballot after the state's elections director removed him for filing in bad faith, ruling that state law sets no good-faith test for candidates.
The reaction from the top of the government has been blunt. "They are cheating. Let's call it what it is — they are cheating," Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Wednesday; asked whether the recruitment was illegal, he answered: "It should be!" President Trump has said Peltola and the second Sullivan should be taken off the ballot and prosecuted, calling the affair "voter fraud at the highest level." Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that officials "should certainly look into whether she committed election fraud": "She is trying to steal a Senate seat from the voters of Alaska." Gov. Mike Dunleavy directed the Department of Public Safety on Wednesday to investigate whether the scheme broke state law, and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation has opened a case.
The campaigns deny the allegation in full. Peltola's campaign says it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign" and "did not recruit any candidates into the race." The DSCC says it was "not involved with Dan J. Sullivan" or any other Republican candidate, and points to Republicans' own long history of recruiting and propping up candidates. Daniel J. Sullivan says he entered the race on his own and had no contact with Peltola's campaign. Peltola herself calls the story a distraction. No one has been charged with a crime, and election-law experts note that recruiting a spoiler candidate is not, by itself, illegal.
For Alaska voters, the stakes are immediate: more than 61,000 ballots had already been cast by midweek in a race polls put within a point or two — one that could decide control of the Senate — and Election Day is Tuesday. The second Sullivan stays on the ballot while a federal judge weighs whether the result can be certified over his presence.
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