A new flyer circulating in Alaska is adding to confusion over a scheme to run a second Dan Sullivan against Republican Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan, after The New York Times last week reported that the Mary Peltola campaign allegedly recruited the spoiler candidate to pull votes from the incumbent.
Fox’s Matt Finn reported that voters have received a flyer paid for by a group called Alaska Values PAC, which says it is not affiliated with any candidate. The flyer lists three names: Mary Peltola, Gerald Heikes, and Dan J. Sullivan Jr. — identified as a Republican. Dan J. Sullivan Jr. is the candidate at the center of the Times’ report, not the sitting senator. The incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan, does not appear on the flyer at all.
Heikes has separately told the Times he was recruited “by a guy from the Midwest.”
Sen. Sullivan has said constituents have been telling him they voted for the wrong man and apologizing to him directly. “I’ve heard from people who think they’ve voted for the wrong guy and have apologized to me. Just like I said, the scheme is working,” Sullivan said.
That follows an earlier News Nation report of a confused voter who could not confirm whether he had cast his ballot for the correct Sullivan, when he intended to vote for the incumbent.
Finn also reported that many Peltola supporters in Alaska are rejecting the Times story outright, despite it citing 12 sources. Supporters he spoke with called the report “lies,” “rubbish,” and “BS,” and some blamed Republicans and “white supremacists” for it.
Not everyone is dismissing it. Other voters have reported switching their votes away from Peltola after the story broke, suggesting the alleged scheme could end up costing her campaign support rather than helping it.
