Comer says there’s a ‘big possibility’ Peltola won’t be seated if she wins

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said there is a “big possibility” that former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) won’t be seated even if she wins Alaska’s Senate race following reports that her campaign participated in a “ ballot-stacking ” scheme.

Appearing on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning,” Comer was asked if there was a possibility Peltola would not be seated even if she won the election.

“That’s a big possibility. I have not spoken to Senator Thune about that. We kind of tend to operate within the confinement of the House with respect to our investigations, but at the end of the day, I think the American people can see loud and clear what was done here,” Comer, the House Oversight Committee chair, said.

Comer, particularly, has heavily criticized Peltola’s campaign over a New York Times report that alleged her campaign and national Democrats recruited another candidate who shared the same name as her Republican opponent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in order to dilute the GOP vote.

Ballot “stacking” is a common practice, especially in Alaska’s unusual nonpartisan, top four voting system. GOP strategists previously told The Hill that it is not illegal.

“We cannot allow this to happen. And the fact that there are a lot of people involved in the Democrat National Party who have been silent on this, and the question remains: Who all was involved? When did this involvement begin? Did money change hands? That’s a big question,” Comer continued. “That’s probably the biggest question that needs to be answered. Did money change hands? And then you know what laws were broken after that?”

He has already launched a probe into Peltola’s involvement in the operation – scheduling transcribed interviews for both Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who The Times spoke with, and Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative, requesting in-person, transcribed interviews.

Comer requested that Rios testify on Nov. 5 and Kurtz on Nov. 6.

Sullivan said earlier Sunday that he would accept the election results even if he lost though Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) dodged answering the same question.