Alaska governor raises concern of ‘cover-up’ in Mary Peltola ballot scandal

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) said Thursday that he was concerned that Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign was engaged in a “cover-up” over its alleged scheme to prop up a spoiler candidate to confuse voters in the Alaska race.Dunleavy spoke with Fox News after announcing his intention to open an investigation into an alleged plan to seek out a candidate with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) to siphon votes away from the Republican.“We got to get to the bottom of this quickly because you have some actions that are taking place, but there also may be a cover-up,” Dunleavy said. “We’ll find out through our investigation. This is so unfortunate.” The governor directed the Alaska Department of Public Safety to open an investigation into Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. after the New York Times published a report Wednesday claiming that the Peltola campaign coordinated with Democratic operatives to recruit a second Dan Sullivan to be on the Senate ballot to confuse voters. Peltola has denied the allegations that she played a hand in the Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy.Dunleavy’s administration had challenged the second Sullivan’s eligibility over the summer, but the Alaska Supreme Court overturned the decision. The initial investigation, Dunleavy said, was just the beginning of the current situation.“We saw the tip of the iceberg back in May and June, and now we’re seeing more of the iceberg, as they would say, ” he said.Dunleavy emphasized that his intention is to protect the integrity of elections, not to target Peltola, although he noted the issues this causes for her campaign.“This is hugely problematic for the candidate,” he said. “And again, our investigation, if it leads to criminal charges, we don’t care who that is. We don’t care if it’s a candidate, we don’t care whose name it is, because what’s more important is maintaining election integrity for the people of Alaska itself. If it leads to that individual, the candidate, then so be it.Dunleavy also used the circumstances to criticize the state’s ranked choice voting system, which he said enabled the alleged spoiler candidate to be on the ballot.“We would not be having this conversation at all if we didn’t have a thing in place called ranked choice voting in the state of Alaska,” he said, adding the state’s jungle primary system negatively “impacts election integrity.”Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson, who is looking to succeed Dunleavy, echoed the governor’s concerns with ranked choice voting.“Because ranked choice voting allows the top four to go on, you now have political parties, special interest groups that are funding a candidate who they don’t even support,” Wilson said. “They don’t even support that candidate, but they’re holding them up.“They’re manipulating this system because they know that if they can shave off 2%, 3%, maybe it’s 5%, that they shave off from the actual leading Republican candidate, then they feel like it gives their candidate a chance,” she continued. “More than anything, I think that it definitely appears as though it is quite fraudulent behavior. It is very much deceiving because of ranked choice voting.”SEN. DAN SULLIVAN TELLS ALASKANS NOT TO RANK MARY PELTOLA BUT INCLUDE ‘DECOY DAN’ ON BALLOTAlaska utilizes a top-four primary, in which the four highest vote-getters from the August primary advance to the general election. Voters can rank up to four candidates. The person with the fewest votes after each round is eliminated, with ballots reapportioned or exhausted until the winner clears 50%.In the 2026 elections, Alaskans are voting on a ballot measure to repeal ranked choice voting. President Donald Trump has expressed his displeasure with the system on multiple occasions and encouraged the state to vote “yes” to move away from the system.