Trump and Alaska Governor Respond After Report Democrats Helped Recruit Second Dan Sullivan

President Trump said Wednesday that Democrat Mary Peltola "shouldn't be allowed to run" in next week's Alaska Senate race, and Alaska's governor ordered an investigation, after The New York Times reported that people aligned with her campaign helped recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan. The Times, citing text messages and interviews, said a Democratic operative who worked with Peltola's campaign and national Democrats encouraged retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to run against Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee deny involvement. Trump called it election fraud and, per Axios, perjury.

Four candidates are on the ranked-choice ballot, which labels the senator a Republican incumbent and lists Sullivan Jr. with no party. Sullivan Jr. was removed by the state elections director but restored by two Alaska courts and the Alaska Supreme Court. The Justice Department is suing to delay certification if the senator narrowly loses over voter confusion, and it now backs the DSCC's intervention to seek discovery.

CBS News, on the left, leads with Trump's "ELECTION FRAUD" and "The Democrats cheated!" posts, then gives the Peltola and DSCC denials and the ballot mechanics, framing the Times account as a report. Right-leaning outlets treat the scheme as established. The Daily Wire calls it a dirty trick and walks through the court history, the Justice Department suit and other legal avenues, while Breitbart centers on ABC's The View, where Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Alyssa Farah Griffin criticized the tactic, and says Peltola appears to have known. Both sides cite the Times and the denials; they differ on certainty and focus. Reason, an alternative outlet, adds election-law expert Rick Hasen's view that the report is a bombshell if true but does not affect the DOJ suit.