Alaska Governor Orders Probe of Second Senate Bid by a Namesake Dan Sullivan

Alaska's governor opened an investigation into a second Senate candidate named Dan Sullivan days before voters cast ballots, saying newly surfaced reporting showed operatives tied to Democratic nominee Mary Peltola worked to recruit spoiler candidates. Gov. Mike Dunleavy said his office is examining whether any laws were broken in the effort to place a retired Petersburg schoolteacher named Dan Sullivan on the November ballot alongside incumbent Sen. Sullivan.

Dunleavy said The New York Times found details state officials did not have when they first challenged the Petersburg Sullivan's candidacy this past summer. The Times reported that Peltola-connected operatives recruited individuals named Dan Sullivan from around the state. The Petersburg Sullivan initially denied being recruited, according to the newspaper's reporting. Peltola's campaign has denied involvement with either Sullivan campaign, and Peltola called the matter a distraction during a campaign appearance Wednesday.

The governor tied the episode to Alaska's election rules. The state advances the top four finishers from a nonpartisan primary to a general election where voters rank candidates by preference. Dunleavy said traditional party primaries would have kept the second Sullivan off the November ballot. "This would have never happened if we didn't have ranked-choice voting," he told Fox News Digital. "If this was a historical primary, a primary that our fathers and grandfathers had, this individual [retired schoolteacher Dan Sullivan of Petersburg] would not have gotten out of the primary."

The state opened a probe in June after the Petersburg Sullivan surfaced, a process that reached the Alaska Supreme Court. The court allowed both names on the ballot, with the incumbent marked "incumbent." The Petersburg Sullivan had asked the Division of Elections to list him as Daniel S. Sullivan, using the incumbent senator's middle initial, and his website closely resembled the senator's site, Dunleavy said. "We knew there was a problem, but the courts had decided," he said.

Federal law is also in play, according to Hans von Spakovsky, former chair of the Federal Election Commission. He said investigators should examine whether anyone paid by Peltola or another political organization provided in-kind services to the Petersburg Sullivan. Undisclosed in-kind services count as campaign contributions, he said, and exceeding contribution limits is a violation; knowing and intentional conduct turns a civil violation into a criminal one. Von Spakovsky cited an FEC matter involving Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, which accepted assistance from Australian Labor Party members whose travel and stipends were paid by that foreign organization. The FEC put the prohibited in-kind foreign contribution at $24,422, and the campaign and the party each paid $15,400 in civil penalties to settle without admitting liability.

Elections in Alaska are overseen by the lieutenant governor. Fox News Digital asked Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom whether and how her office is investigating. Dunleavy said his office handles execution of the laws, and that this review will determine whether any legal or civil violations occurred. He said the inquiry will run as long as necessary.