Alaska Senate race: what to know about Democrats’ alleged ballot-stacking effort
Summary
A New York Times report says Mary Peltola’s campaign and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staff worked to recruit Dan J Sullivan and other candidates with names similar to Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Peltola’s campaign previously denied encouraging or soliciting Dan J Sullivan to run, while he said he wanted to offer conservative voters another choice. Ballot stacking is generally legal, though lying under oath about coordination could constitute perjury; the article says no such accusation had been made as of October 29.Key Facts
- Dan J Sullivan entered Alaska’s Senate race as a Republican in May, challenging incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
- Dan J Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher and former U.S. Forest Service employee with no prior political experience.
- The New York Times reported that Peltola campaign staff and senior Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aides sought candidates with names similar to Dan Sullivan’s.
- The report drew on interviews with at least a dozen people and reviewed text messages and documents.
- Peltola’s campaign denied encouraging or soliciting Dan J Sullivan to run in a statement to the Anchorage Daily News in May.
- Dan J Sullivan told the New York Times he did not intend to confuse voters and wanted to give conservative Alaskans another candidate.
- Ballot stacking—recruiting candidates to draw votes from an opponent—is not itself illegal and is used by both major parties.
- The article says that, as of October 29, no one had been accused of lying under oath about cooperation with Dan J Sullivan.
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