Alaska Democrats Recruited a Second Dan Sullivan to Run Against the Senator
Operatives drew up a list of every Dan Sullivan in the state, hoping some Republicans would vote for the wrong one.
The Headlines · At Least 68 Killed in Spain Train Crash, and Democrats’ Secret Effort to Stack Alaska’s BallotLast summer, a small group of Democrats gathered in private to figure out how to defeat a sitting United States senator.
The target was Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent running for reelection in Alaska. The candidate they wanted to help was Mary Peltola, the Democrat challenging him in a race that could help determine which party controls the Senate.
According to reporting by The New York Times, top aides to Peltola met with senior Democratic operatives and settled on a plan to recruit extra candidates onto the Senate ballot. The aim was to splinter support among Republicans, siphon votes away from Senator Sullivan, and indirectly help Peltola.
Then came the twist. A staff member for Peltola was given an unusual assignment: to compile the names of other Alaskans who shared the incumbent's exact name, finding as many as possible.
If voters saw more than one Dan Sullivan on the ballot, some Republicans might vote for the wrong one, depriving the incumbent of support he would otherwise receive.
When the ballot was finalized, there were two Dan Sullivans on it. One was the Republican senator. The other was a former schoolteacher who lived in a small, remote fishing community.
Such candidate recruitment maneuvers are widely used in politics and are usually viewed as permissible, and both parties have used them in Alaska. But the effort shows how far Democrats were willing to go in secret to tilt a high stakes contest.
The stakes are now legal as well as political. Lawyers for the Justice Department have already gone to court, seeking to block certification of the election results if Senator Sullivan loses by a narrow margin.
Questions people ask
Is it legal to put a same-named candidate on the ballot to confuse voters?
Generally, yes. Recruiting candidates to run, even to split the other side's vote, is usually allowed as long as the candidates legally qualify, file proper paperwork, and do not engage in fraud or bribery. Courts have rarely struck down the practice itself, though close results can invite lawsuits over voter confusion.
How is adding extra candidates supposed to help win an election?
Political operatives call it ballot stacking or running a spoiler. A party recruits or encourages an extra candidate who appeals to the other side's voters. Even a small share of votes diverted to the extra candidate can change the outcome in a close statewide race.
Who is Mary Peltola?
Peltola, a Democrat from Alaska, previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives. She won a special election in 2022 and served through early 2025, building a national profile as a moderate Democrat with strong support among Alaska Native communities.