Republicans rip Peltola over report her campaign recruited second Sullivan

Republicans are blasting Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola (D) over reports her campaign recruited one of her midterm opponents, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to counter incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R) reelection bid.

The New York Times reported Wednesday Peltola’s campaign directly attempted to recruit someone with the same name as her GOP opponent — allegations the former congresswoman denied. The similarity between the two candidates’ names sparked a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit seeking to block the state’s election certification, citing potential voter confusion.

In a statement to The Hill, the incumbent senator’s campaign accused Peltola of “gaslighting” Alaskan voters.

“Alaskans deserve to know the truth. Mary Peltola, her campaign, and her senior advisors colluded with the DSCC [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee], national Democrat lawyers, and Alaska Democrat operatives to recruit a candidate to deliberately deceive and confuse voters, and then repeatedly lied about it,” campaign spokesperson Nate Adams said. “Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along.”

A spokesperson for Peltola’s campaign did not immediately return The Hill’s request for comment.

Several GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, ripped Peltola over the allegations.

“Alaskans will leave Peltola unranked on the ballot because of her dirty tricks. Voters can trust the real Dan Sullivan, and I’m confident he’ll be re-elected,” Scott wrote in a post to social platform X.

“Two terms in Congress. Zero bills signed into law. But she found time to hunt down every Dan Sullivan in Alaska,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote on X . “Let’s elect the REAL Dan Sullivan.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also weighed in, claiming Peltola was involved in “a direct scheme to undermine the integrity of the election.”

The DOJ filed its lawsuit over challenger Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot last week, attempting to block certification of the election if the incumbent senator loses. Peltola sharply criticized the lawsuit , calling it “desperate” and saying she has faith in the integrity of Alaska’s elections.

“We’ve been running great elections for decades. There have never really been any abnormalities or irregularities to speak of,” Peltola said in an interview on MS NOW. “I have total confidence in Alaskans’ ability to know who they’re voting for.”

Alaska’s GOP-led state Legislature asked a federal court Monday to dismiss the DOJ’s lawsuit, following a similar motion from American Civil Liberties Union lawyers on behalf of nonprofit watchdog group Common Cause.

Trump accused Democrats of breaking the law in a post to Truth Social Wednesday afternoon.

“It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election, thereby taking votes away from the REAL Senator, Dan Sullivan,” Trump wrote.