Report Says Peltola Campaign and Democrats Backed Effort to Recruit Spoiler Candidates in Alaska Senate Race

The campaign of Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola took part in an effort to draw votes away from Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan by recruiting namesake and spoiler candidates, according to a New York Times investigation published Wednesday. The campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) both deny involvement.

The report describes a covert operation internally called the "ballot composition project." It allegedly involved DSCC aides, senior campaign advisors, party lawyers and an operative who traveled around Alaska under assumed names. According to the Times, the effort began in the summer of 2025, when a Peltola staffer was told to search state voter rolls and compile a list of Alaskans named Dan Sullivan.

The plan allegedly paid off earlier this year. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and left-leaning voter from Petersburg, switched his registration to Republican shortly before filing to run for the Senate seat.

Elisa Rios, Peltola's former campaign manager, who was fired in August, told the Times that Peltola was not directly involved in orchestrating the project but was "definitely aware." "Alaskan voters need to know," Rios said. "There was a lot of speculation, and voters should get the full picture when making their decisions." Rios later tried to retract her comments before publication, but the newspaper said her interviews were backed by text messages, internal documents and 11 other sources.

The report names Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz as a central figure. He allegedly used aliases such as "Zane" and met potential recruits at local pubs and diners, offering outside financial support to persuade conservative and independent candidates to run and divide the right-leaning vote. Operatives also allegedly recruited others, including drywall contractor Gerald Heikes, and pressured progressive candidate David Leslie to leave the race so he would not siphon votes from Peltola. That cleared the way for Heikes to take the fourth spot on Alaska's ranked-choice ballot.

The Times also reported that campaign advisors and the DSCC considered creating a third-party "MAGA party" to pull votes from Sullivan before dropping the idea in May. Jacquelyn Lopez, an attorney at the Elias Law Group, which represents both the DSCC and Peltola's campaign, was reportedly included in discussions about the third-party strategy and field operations. Internal messages cited by the paper show staff asking whether they needed to "follow up with Jackie about maga party stuff."

In a statement to the Times, Peltola's campaign said: "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race." The DSCC said it had no role in recruiting either Sullivan or any other Republican candidate. In a statement to Fox News, a DSCC spokesperson pointed to Republican tactics, citing the recruitment of a prisoner with a New York address to run against Peltola and nearly half a million dollars spent to secure a ballot spot for an Arizona resident in the Senate race this cycle.

President Donald Trump responded on Truth Social, calling the alleged scheme "ELECTION FRAUD" and arguing that Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan should not be allowed on the ballot. "The Democrats cheated!" he wrote, adding that Democrats "lied to the Court." The White House also highlighted a post by Communications Director Steven Cheung on X describing a "secret, CORRUPT plan to stack Alaska's ballot."

The report arrives days before Election Day and amid a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election if Sullivan loses because of voter confusion over the two identical names. Under Alaska's four-person general election system, Peltola is the only Democrat on the ballot, facing Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan and Heikes on Tuesday.