One $100 Filing Fee Sparks Criminal Probe in Alaska Senate Race

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit this week to stop the certification of a potential victory for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola in Alaska. The legal action seeks to delay the final outcome until federal investigators can determine whether voters were confused by the presence of a Republican challenger who shares the same name as the incumbent senator.

The dispute centers on a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired school teacher. He appears on the ballot alongside Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Peltola, who previously served as the state’s only House member. Alaska uses a unique voting system where the top four candidates from the primary advance to the general election in November. Voters then rank their top three choices.

According to a report from The New York Times, internal texts and communications suggest the Peltola campaign recruited the second Sullivan. The report details efforts that began in 2025 to place a candidate with the incumbent’s last name on the ballot. A Democratic strategist outside the state was paid by a political organization backing Peltola, who announced her Senate run in January 2026.

Peltola has denied involvement in the scheme, as has the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. President Donald Trump called for the Democrat’s prosecution after the report broke. The Justice Department has issued a series of subpoenas as part of a criminal investigation into the matter.

The practice of using a "spoiler" candidate with a similar name to an opponent has a long history in American politics. Records show it dates back to at least 1946. In that year, a four-term Boston city councilman named Joe Russo ran against a 27-year-old janitor of the same name in a Democratic primary. Supporters of the eventual winner, John F. Kennedy, recruited the janitor to the ticket.

Critics argue the current investigation represents an unusual level of federal intervention during an election cycle. The Justice Department has traditionally avoided overt investigative actions within 60 days of an election. However, recent weeks have seen a surge in politically sensitive moves, including the search of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home. A Justice Department statement said the agency is "following the facts and the law, not anyone’s political timetable."

Justin Levitt, a former Justice official under the Biden administration and a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said the timing seems unlikely given how common the tactic is. "It may be distasteful, but it happens all the time," Levitt said. "There is no behavior that has been disclosed that is in violation of federal law."

Republican allies note that their own campaigns have used similar strategies in other states. In Ohio, a group tied to the president is urging voters to support a socialist candidate to dilute the Democratic vote. In Nevada, a political operation is boosting an independent gubernatorial candidate named Danielle Ford, who shares a last name with the Democratic challenger to the Republican governor. In 2020, Trump’s allies attempted to recruit Kanye West as a third-party candidate.

Jason Torchinsky, a veteran Republican campaign finance attorney and former Justice Department official, pointed to the $100 filing fee required in Alaska. This low barrier allows anyone to appear on the lengthy primary ballot. "This is just Exhibit A for how ranked-choice voting systems can be manipulated by various actors," Torchinsky said. He noted that in traditional systems, candidates must secure party nominations or gather tens of thousands of signatures.

Defenders of Alaska’s system argue it is harder to manipulate because voters can rank both Sullivans above Peltola. Sullivan’s campaign is urging Alaskans to take this approach. In 2020 in Florida, a similar incident resulted in a conviction. Republican former state senator Frank Artiles was sentenced to 60 days in jail for helping a second Alex Rodriguez run against Democratic state senator Jose Javier Rodriguez. The Democrat lost his seat by 32 votes.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research in Washington, expects a judge to soon reject the Justice Department’s lawsuit. He called the suit "frivolous" if Sen. Sullivan does not win. Becker suggested that if both parties wanted to regulate these tactics, they could work together in Congress to create rules preventing both sides from using them.