President Donald Trump's Justice Department is getting involved with a spat in Alaska over two candidates with the same name.
The Alaska U.S. Senate race features Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, trying to fend off a well-funded and strong challenge from former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. The wrinkle is that one Dan J. Sullivan, a teacher from Petersburg, is also running, which has led a number of Republicans to claim he is a so-called "ghost candidate" solely to spoil the race in Democrats' favor.
According to NBC News, "the FBI, the Alaska attorney general and the U.S. attorney’s office in Alaska are all investigating whether two or more people conspired to create the Sullivan challenger’s campaign with the intention to confuse voters, hurt the incumbent and boost votes for Peltola." The other Sullivan insists his campaign is legitimate.
Alaska uses a special system where all candidates of all parties stand in a single primary, then the top four, regardless of party, advance to a ranked-choice vote in the November general election.
The top elections official in Alaska initially denied the second Sullivan access to the ballot, claiming his campaign was launched "in bad faith." However, state courts overturned this decision, ordering both Sullivans to be placed on the ballot. While the state complied, it also plans to display the word "incumbent" next to Senator Sullivan's name to avoid voter confusion.
A source informed about the investigations told NBC, "the Alaska attorney general’s office began its investigation into whether any state laws were violated before federal investigators began their probe," while federal prosecutors are "looking for possible wire fraud or a conspiracy to deprive Alaskan voters of a free and fair election process, which could be a civil rights violation."
