Trump Seeks Peltola's Disqualification
The president calls the Alaska Senate race fraudulent after a namesake of GOP rival Dan Sullivan appeared on the ballot.
By Tyler Khalil ·
President Donald Trump is demanding that the Senate bar Democratic candidate Mary Peltola from the upcoming Alaska election, labeling the contest fraudulent. The president’s push centers on a dispute involving a Republican primary candidate who shares a name with Peltola’s main opponent.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump argued that Peltola should not be allowed to run. He stated, "In Alaska, I don't think Mary Peltola should be allowed to run after carrying out such a terrible maneuver, this is electoral fraud!" The comment followed a recent report by The New York Times detailing text messages from the Peltola campaign.
The newspaper reported that campaign staff discussed recruiting a person named Dan Sullivan to run for the Senate. The strategy aimed to confuse voters so that votes intended for the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan, would be cast for this independent candidate instead. That scenario occurred when Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired fifth-grade teacher, entered the Republican primary.
Sullivan Jr. is now running as an independent for the November 3 election. Trump accused Peltola of perjury, claiming her team lied to the court about knowing the Sullivan candidate. He wrote, "They found a man named Dan Sullivan (the same name as the Republican candidate in Alaska), put him on the ballot, and then lied to the court saying they didn't know anything about it. That's perjury. She shouldn't be allowed to run, nor should the fake Dan Sullivan!"
Peltola’s campaign rejected the characterization. Spokespeople for the race stated that no member of the team or its advisors collaborated to find the candidate. The campaign maintains the discovery of the namesake was not a coordinated effort to manipulate the ballot.
Polling data indicates the race in Alaska is closely contested as election day approaches. The state will hold its midterm elections on November 3. The dispute adds a layer of legal and public scrutiny to a contest that is currently neck and neck in the numbers.
