Democrat Mary Peltola's Senate campaign received subpoenas from the Justice Department. Investigators are looking into a plan to recruit a second man named Dan Sullivan to run in Alaska. This effort aimed to confuse voters about which candidate was the real incumbent.
NBC News reported that a U.S. official confirmed investigators issued at least three dozen new subpoenas. The Associated Press reported that these were grand jury subpoenas. ABC News added that prosecutors are checking if this violates federal conspiracy laws.
Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has directed a state investigation into the recruitment operation. He directed authorities to find out if criminal charges or civil action are needed. Gov. Dunleavy made his stance clear on the potential outcome.
"If we conclude that there are things that should not have happened, that are illegal, we will act on that, and that may in fact impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate," Gov. Dunleavy said. "We are ready to do whatever we need to do to ensure that our elections are deemed credible," he added. His goal is simple: "We're going to ensure that we aren't going to send a scam to Washington."
An investigation by The New York Times tracing the effort to recruit spoiler candidates preceded the subpoenas. The New York Times reported that in the summer of 2025, a staff member for Mary Peltola received unusual instructions. Top aides instructed them to locate as many individuals named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as possible. Following these orders, the staff member searched voter records to generate a list of names spanning the state.
The plan worked. This spring, a retired teacher from a tiny fishing village declared his candidacy for Senate. The retired teacher's name was Dan J. Sullivan. The Peltola campaign has consistently denied any role in his candidacy. However, The New York Times found that Peltola's team worked with people trying to recruit him.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo. Fox News Digital was told by an unnamed source that he believes the campaign received help from the very top. He called the actions criminal. "I mean, this is criminal behavior to steal the Alaska Senate race, it's now been fully exposed," Barrasso said. He claimed there is proof that Schumer schemed with them to deceive voters.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski also spoke out. On X, she argued that "ballot-stacking should have no place in our electoral process." She stated, "Alaskans deserve the honest truth from Mary and her campaign — what has been revealed is a pattern of lies and coverups and a culture of deception that belongs nowhere in our elections or among our elected officials." Neither Schumer's office nor Peltola's campaign responded to requests for comment.