Republicans have knives out for Peltola as Democrats largely silent

Republicans are out for blood following a report that former Rep. Mary Peltola’s (D-Alaska) campaign recruited “spoiler” candidates to run on the ballot and siphon votes away from incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).

Democratic lawmakers, so far, have not come rushing to Peltola’s defense.

Many in the GOP have called for legal consequences since the story broke Wednesday, and the probes are mounting.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola’s campaign and national Democrats had been involved in “ballot stacking” — recruiting extra candidates for the ballot including Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher who has garnered attention for having the same name as the incumbent senator.

The allegations come less than a week before Election Day, as Peltola appears poised to be one of Democrats’ best hopes to flip a Senate seat and, hopefully, the majority.

Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have continued to deny any involvement in the alleged scheme.

Peltola criticized the media for focusing on the story rather than on the incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan’s record.

“This is just another distraction. It’s another diversion. Everyday it’s some new, you know, ‘Look over here’ moment,” Peltola said at a campaign event Wednesday. “Anyone who’s working in your best interest isn’t going to talk about the nonsense. This is all stuff to sell newspapers. This is all stuff to get subscriptions. Nobody at The New York Times cares about affordability in Alaska.”

Democrats in general are largely staying out of the fray.

A spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denied involvement in any candidate recruitment scheme but did not otherwise mention the allegations or release any statements of support.

In a CNN interview Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) blamed the allegations on a “disgruntled fired former campaign staffer,” noting the ballot was clear enough for voters and claims of election interference were unwarranted.

“I trust what she’s saying, she didn’t have anything to do with it,” Murphy said of Peltola. “So I’m not gonna engage in these hypotheticals. All I will say is that [President] Donald Trump is looking for a pretext to try to steal this election.”

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) posted in support of Peltola on Wednesday but did not mention the controversy.

“I served with Mary Peltola in the House, and I know how much she cares about fighting for Alaskan families,” Kim wrote on social media Wednesday. “She’s all about fish, family, and freedom and will work to restore Alaska’s fisheries, lower the cost of gas, groceries, housing, and childcare, and fix a rigged system in Washington. She got more votes than her opponent in the non-partisan primary, and she can win this in November.”

But otherwise, there has been little noise from Democrats defending Peltola, who could face a potentially bruising floor fight with Republicans in the upper chamber if she is certified as the winner next week.

In contrast, Democrats were more vocal about backing Peltola in September when another New York Times story alleged she had mistreated and verbally berated staffers.

Republicans are hoping the new scrutiny on Peltola dents her polling advantage in time to save the incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. But they are not waiting around, and the probes are mounting.

Republicans have been claiming for months that Democrats were involved in recruiting the other Sullivan and the new allegations have given them fresh ammo.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has already launched an investigation.

“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” the governor wrote on social media Wednesday. “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.”

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are also looking to probe further.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the committee, said in a press release Thursday that he has summoned two Democratic operatives named in the Times report to testify.

“Democrats are the party of fraud,” Comer said. “Knowing they can’t win on the issues, Democrats schemed to rig the U.S. Senate election in Alaska by deliberately confusing voters. This is part of a broader pattern of misconduct by today’s Democrat Party.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, responded to Comer in a CNN interview Thursday, saying there “should be an investigation,” but that the state should be in charge, not Congress.

“I think the state of Alaska should do its job,” Garcia said. “They should investigate any time there is accusations of any kind of issue, those should be done at the state level.”

Garcia added he thought Peltola would win and that any investigation was not likely to impact the race.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Thursday morning that the Department of Justice (DOJ) should investigate Peltola, calling the ballot stacking “a criminal offense.”

“There’s no doubt that Mary Peltola has been, at least her campaign and the Democrat apparatus, they are involved in collusion,” Scott told NewsNation, The Hill’s broadcast partner. “They’ve been colluding together in a coordinated effort to deceive the voters.”

“I hope that the DOJ takes all the time necessary to prosecute and investigate this situation,” Scott added.

The DOJ on Thursday issued a wave of subpoenas targeting Democratic officials believed to be involved with recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan, according to ABC News .

The latest investigations come on top of a lawsuit already filed by the DOJ, at Trump’s direction, to block the state from certifying the election if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.

Ballot stacking is not an uncommon practice, and there are examples from both parties throughout history. It is also not illegal according to state law. And many voters have already voted or made up their minds about their choice. Several surveyed by Alaska Public Media on Wednesday said the reporting did not change their views or their vote, even if the allegations struck them as “icky vibes” and “kind of messed up.”

People on both sides of the aisle criticized the administration’s lawsuit, including the Republican-led state legislature . Some Democrats were vocal in standing by Peltola in that instance, and liberal groups supported a move to intervene in that case , hoping to get it dismissed.

But some of the same moderates who pushed back on the lawsuit slammed the political maneuvering.

Fellow GOP Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said voters “deserve the honest truth” from Peltola and the campaign.

Murkowski supported Peltola in the past — though she is backing Sen. Dan Sullivan in this race— and recently endorsed a Democrat for governor. She has also criticized the earlier DOJ lawsuit to block the results.

Murkowski on Wednesday took to her long-quiet campaign account on social media with a critical post.

“While some may try to write this off as just how politics works now, ballot-stacking should have no place in our electoral process,” Murkowski said. “Run and win on your merits: your views, your policy ideas, and your accomplishments. By contrast, recruiting candidates to manipulate the field and influence voting outcomes is simply wrong.

“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,” Murkowski added.