Alaska voters went to the polls Tuesday amid allegations that Democrats recruited a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan to run in the state’s Senate race, a move critics say was designed to confuse voters choosing between incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
The allegation, first reported by The New York Times, centers on mailers sent to Alaska voters on Friday that referenced only the imposter candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, and omitted the incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, by name.
One Alaska voter who spoke to Fox News said the report changed his vote. “When the New York Times article came out, and I found out how that transpired, I was disgusted by the whole thing, so sleazy,” he said. He told Fox News he had “thought about voting for Mary Peltola” before the report but then said, “I switched.”
A woman with him called the alleged scheme “unethical” and said she does not think Peltola should be elected. Both said they would instead vote for Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Peltola has denied any involvement in the alleged effort to place a second Sullivan on the ballot.
Alaska has a little over 600,000 registered voters, many of whom live in remote villages.
Separately, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday it has sent election monitors to all 50 states for the first time. Previously, election monitoring efforts had concentrated on cities including New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. States now receiving monitors include Arkansas, Utah and North Dakota.
