Peltola denies NYT report her campaign recruited other Sullivan

Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign and national Democrats are denying a new investigation from The New York Times reporting that they worked together to recruit candidates in an effort to pull votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska.

The Times report, published Wednesday, cites twelve sources and references text messages and documents showing that Peltola campaign aides, the campaign’s lawyers and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) staffers were involved in pushing other candidates, including Dan J. Sullivan, to run.

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

The DSCC also told The Hill in a statement it had “no involvement” in recruiting the other Sullivan. Peltola’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

The report comes just days after the Justice Department sued to block the Senate contest’s results from certification if the incumbent loses, citing the two Sullivans on the ballot.

The Peltola campaign has asked the judge to dismiss that case , prompting the judge to expedite the litigation.

Republicans, including the senator and President Trump, have long accused Democrats of recruiting Dan J. Sullivan.

Ballot “stacking” is a common practice, especially in Alaska’s unusual nonpartisan top-four voting system. Both parties have recruited fringe candidates this cycle and in previous years , hoping to siphon off votes.

According to The Times, the Peltola campaign’s effort to “stack” the ballot began in the summer of 2025, when DSCC aides connected the campaign to Democratic operatives who had experience with such maneuvers.

Those operatives, The Times’s sources claimed, coordinated with the campaign to recruit Dan J. Sullivan, who previously supported Peltola in elections, to run as a Republican. He recently changed his party affiliation from Republican to “undeclared.”

The operatives, per The Times, also attempted to recruit other candidates, meeting with an unconnected progressive candidate who made it on the primary ballot. This candidate dropped out of the race shortly after, the outlet reported.

Aides from the campaign and the DSCC, as well as a lawyer, also reportedly floated forming a “MAGA party” to challenge the Republican senator from the right.

The Senate race in Alaska is one of the most contested in the country as Democrats seek to win flip the upper chamber.

Peltola, who previously served in the House, is currently favored to win based on polls and other metrics, according to Decision Desk HQ.