President Trump Says Democratic Senate Candidate Should Be “Prosecuted Criminally” Over Alleged Scheme To “Cheat In The Election”

Trump wants Alaska Dem Mary Peltola 'prosecuted criminally' for wild same name ballot 'scheme' pic.twitter.com/V8o7rPdizZ

— New York Post (@nypost) October 29, 2026

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In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can.

The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state.

This was no random request. Dan S. Sullivan is the name of the state’s Republican senator. And if the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot.

The plan worked. This spring, a retired teacher from a tiny fishing village along the Alaska Panhandle, reachable only by air and sea, announced his candidacy for Senate. His name was Dan J. Sullivan.

The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy. But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory.

The endeavor, which was internally called the ballot composition project, involved secret trips to far-flung Alaskan communities and the appearance of a mysterious Midwestern operative, who traversed the state using a fake name and made his pitch to would-be candidates over beers at brew pubs.

It also involved the Peltola campaign’s lawyers, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which directs the party’s campaign strategy in Senate races across the country. From Washington to Anchorage, those advisers participated in regular conversations about the effort and even considered forming a new political party to draw conservatives onto the ballot.

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Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates—including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator—to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes. The Alaska…

— Governor Mike Dunleavy (@GovDunleavy) October 29, 2026

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Also on Thursday, President Donald Trump cast doubt on whether Republicans would seat Peltola if she wins her race.

Asked by a reporter whether he thought Republicans should refuse to seat Peltola if she wins, Trump said, “you’re going to have to see what happens.” He added it was “hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run.”

The Times published an explosive report detailing the campaign and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s alleged efforts to recruit a Senate candidate with the same name as incumbent, citing interviews with 12 people who were involved with or were told about the plan, or were contacted as potential recruits. The report also cited dozens of text messages among participants.

The Times’ report included information from Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, who was fired in August. Rios later contacted the Times and “retracted all statements made regarding the 2026 Alaska Senate Race,” the outlet said. It also reported the she had been planning to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the campaign but has not done so.

The Times’ revelations have rocked the critical battleground race. Republicans have widely condemned Democrats for allegedly trying to manipulate the ballot in an attempt to confuse voters — an accusation the GOP has been making since the second Sullivan entered the race.

NBC News previously reported that the second Sullivan’s candidacy was under investigation by state and federal prosecutors in Alaska, and a grand jury issued subpoenas for information from witnesses linked to his campaign in August. The Justice Department also filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block the certification of the election if the incumbent Sullivan loses.

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