Lengths Democrats took to cheat in Alaska exposed in bombshell new report

Democrat Mary Peltola, candidate for U.S. senate in Alaska.

Democrats in Alaska went to extraordinary lengths to cheat in the race for a U.S. senate seat, according to a bombshell new report by The New York Times, specifically undertaking a sweeping search for people with the exact same name as the state's incumbent who is up for re-election in the 2026 midterms: Dan Sullivan.

According to the report, campaign aides for Mary Peltola, the Democrat running to unseat Sullivan, directed staffers to begin an exhaustive search to find as many Alaska residents as they could who have the name Dan Sullivan. The goal was to find someone with the exact same name as Dan S. Sullivan, the sitting U.S. senator, and persuade that person to enter the race. 

The search went on for months. Peltola eventually launched her bid for senate, and the plan, which was codenamed "the ballot composition project," eventually worked, too. In the spring of 2026, Peltola campaign staffers were able to find a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan who was game for such skullduggery. 

According to The New York Times, a campaign engaging in this type of subterfuge is not illegal, but the Peltola campaign has denied being involved in any way with recruiting the second Sullivan to enter the race. 

Nevertheless, the Times reported, the Peltola campaign as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (D.S.C.C.) and a mysterious political operative from the Midwest were all in on the caper. In fact, Elisa Rios, Peltola's former campaign manager confirmed all of it in a several interviews with the Times, saying she didn't work directly on "the ballot composition project," but that she was "definitely aware" it was going on. Rios was fired from the campaign in August. The D.S.C.C. has also denied involvement in the scheme. 

“Alaskan voters need to know,” Rios initially said of her decision to speak out, according to The Times. “There was a lot of speculation, and voters should get the full picture when making their decisions.” But, in another twist, Rios contacted the Times and said she was retracting all of her previous statements.

The Times published the story anyway, citing reporting it gleaned from other sources and text messages its reporters reviewed about how the campaign and the D.S.C.C. collaborated to find spoiler candidates for the senate race, which could be pivotal in deciding whether Republicans or Democrats control the senate, and even plotted to fund the spoiler candidates. The end result: Peltola is facing both Dan Sullivans, the incumbent senator and the retired teacher, as well as another candidate who's considered to be a long-shot. 

Last week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the certification of the Alaska outcome, saying voter confusion over two candidates with the same name on one ballot could undermine the integrity of the election, a move Attorney General Todd Blanche defended over the weekend. 

For more on the story and the potential fallout, watch the video below.