Alaska's governor orders investigation after NYT report on alleged Dem-linked Senate election scheme

In the wake of a New York Times report detailing an alleged Democrat-linked election scheme that involved the recruitment of a candidate with nearly the exact same name as an incumbent GOP senator, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that he was ordering a probe into the matter.

"Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes. The Alaska Division of Elections investigated these very concerns in June of this year. The new reporting substantially supports the Division’s findings," Dunleavy noted in a post on X.

MARY PELTOLA'S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a proclamation signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on June 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

"I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The evidence will determine what happens next," the GOP governor continued.

"Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections. Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable," he added.

SEN DAN SULLIVAN BRANDS PELTOLA'S ALLEGED BALLOT SCHEME A 'SCANDAL AT THE HIGHEST ORDER'

President Donald Trump shakes hands with U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, as he invited him to speak during a campaign rally at Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla, Alaska, on Oct. 13, 2026. (Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

While incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is one of the candidates on the ballot in Alaska's ranked-choice U.S. Senate voting contest, there is another candidate on the same ballot named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., a retired teacher who is listed without party affiliation.

According to the paper's article, titled "Inside Democrats’ Secret Effort to Stack Alaska’s Ballot," the Times found "that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory."

On Oct. 22, the DOJ filed a federal lawsuit seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses and votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the result, pending an investigation into whether voters mistakenly selected the wrong candidate.

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, Sen. Dan Sullivan said, "This is what happens when you have a candidate like Peltola, far left, who's got nothing to run on. I have a much stronger record we're running. We have a vision for Alaskans that the Alaskan people want, and when they recognize that, they're like, ‘shoot, I guess we got to cheat.’

"What's remarkable here is that even today, she has not apologized. Even today, she's kind of playing as if nothing happened," Sen. Sullivan added. 

"The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race," the Peltola campaign asserted in a statement to the Times.

MURKOWSKI SNUBS TRUMP-BACKED ALASKA CANDIDATE, ENDORSES DEMOCRAT FOR GOVERNOR

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and former Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat from Alaska and U.S. Senate candidate, right, raise paddles during the 2026 Alaska Fisheries Debate in Kodiak, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Nathaniel Wilder/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Peltola's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's comment request on Thursday.