In the wake of a New York Times report detailing an alleged Democrat-linked election scheme that involved the recruitment of a candidate with nearly the exact same name as an incumbent GOP senator, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that he was ordering a probe into the matter.

"Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes. The Alaska Division of Elections investigated these very concerns in June of this year. The new reporting substantially supports the Division’s findings," Dunleavy noted in a post on X.

MARY PELTOLA'S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT

"I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The evidence will determine what happens next," the GOP governor continued.

"Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections. Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable," he added.

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While incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is one of the candidates on the ballot in Alaska's ranked-choice U.S. Senate voting contest, there is another candidate on the same ballot named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., a retired teacher who is listed without party affiliation.

According to the paper's article, titled "Inside Democrats’ Secret Effort to Stack Alaska’s Ballot," the Times found "that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory."

On Oct. 22, the DOJ filed a federal lawsuit seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses and votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the result, pending an investigation into whether voters mistakenly selected the wrong candidate.

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, Sen. Dan Sullivan said, "This is what happens when you have a candidate like Peltola, far left, who's got nothing to run on. I have a much stronger record we're running. We have a vision for Alaskans that the Alaskan people want, and when they recognize that, they're like, ‘shoot, I guess we got to cheat.’

"What's remarkable here is that even today, she has not apologized. Even today, she's kind of playing as if nothing happened," Sen. Sullivan added. 

"The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race," the Peltola campaign asserted in a statement to the Times.

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Peltola's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's comment request on Thursday.

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod chalked up Wednesday's revelations about an alleged Democratic scheme to influence Alaska's Senate race as something that "happens all the time," comparing it to Republican support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential bid against then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 election cycle.

The New York Times published a bombshell report alleging that Democratic operatives recruited a man named Dan Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, potentially aiding his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Mary Peltola.

Appearing on an MS NOW panel, Elrod was quick to shrug off the controversy.

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"Some of this stuff happens all the time," Elrod reacted. "Let's not forget that ... RFK Jr., when he ran against Joe Biden, Republicans propped him up, a lot of Trump donors were giving him money because they thought he would dig into some of Biden's supporters. And then he ran as an independent. They thought he would draw away supporters from Biden. It actually had the opposite effect.

"The bottom line is this stuff happens all the time. There are tactics that both campaigns can use. ... It is very clear, as you mentioned, who is the incumbent. So, if you're a Republican or any voter in Alaska, and you want to support the incumbent, you know who you're voting for," Elrod added noting she hadn't read the Times report.

MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander said the "funny business" involving Democrats in Alaska was "not illegal" and pointed out that the Republican senator is listed as "incumbent" on the ballot, which he argued undermined the Trump administration's concerns about voter confusion.

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Republicans have long been suspicious about the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who is among four Senate candidates listed on Alaska's rank-choice ballot. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent senator loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome.

"In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can," the Times began its report Wednesday. 

"The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state. ... [I]f the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot. The plan worked."

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According to Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, Peltola was not directly involved in the scheme but was "definitely aware."

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"The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy," the Times wrote.

"But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory."