Trump demands Peltola quit Alaska Senate race and be prosecuted over spoiler report

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for Democrat Mary Peltola to leave Alaska's Senate race and be prosecuted, after The New York Times reported that people working with her campaign and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee helped recruit a second Dan Sullivan to run against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan ¹².

Trump, speaking to reporters as he prepared to fly to Ohio, called it "voter fraud at the highest level" and said, "It turned out it was a scheme by the Democrats. That's what they do best: They cheat" ¹. In a Truth Social post, he said the report showed Democrats "illegally" sought out the same-named man "in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election, thereby taking votes away from the REAL Senator, Dan Sullivan" ².

On tapePBS NewsHour · Oct 23

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The Times, citing interviews, texts and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit, reported 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," and that "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" ². Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, told the Times that Peltola was not directly involved but was "definitely aware" ². The newspaper noted that Rios last week tried to retract comments she had made confirming the recruitment effort ².

Peltola's campaign and the DSCC "denied participating in efforts to recruit spoilers to the ballot in Alaska," the Times reported ². In a statement to CNBC, the campaign said, "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. Like Mary, our campaign is focused on lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC" ². A DSCC spokesperson said, "The DSCC is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan," and pointed to Republican efforts to promote third-party and dark-horse candidates in this cycle and past ones ².

From Channel GOPPeltola: Tariffs doubled Alaska air taxi's parts billMary Peltola · 141 plays · captioned, with the source named

The report lands in the middle of a federal lawsuit. The Justice Department has asked a judge to block certification of any Senate result "that may be impacted by voter confusion ... pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan" ². Trump has said he ordered the lawsuit ². Peltola's campaign, the DSCC and Alaska election officials have asked U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss the suit before Election Day, Nov. 3 ². Gleason on Monday evening fast-tracked the case, increasing the chance she rules before the vote ².

Alaska officials said in a court filing that the Justice Department "lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate," and that the suit and "requested relief cast a cloud over Alaska's election" ². They said the state has taken significant steps to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot ². Daniel J. Sullivan is listed as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." with no other words next to his name; directly below, the incumbent appears as Sullivan, Dan. S. with "Registered Republican, incumbent" in parentheses ². Peltola, a former U.S. House member, is the only Democrat on the ballot ².

On tapeForbes Breaking News · Oct 26

▶3:02

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which lets voters rank candidates by preference ². That method could allow voters to rank both Sullivans, so a vote for the non-incumbent could transfer to the incumbent senator if the non-incumbent is eliminated in the first round of counting ². The Times noted that ballot-stacking tactics are "common in politics and generally considered legal — and have been employed by both parties in Alaska" ².

That matters because the winner of the Alaska race could determine whether Democrats regain a majority in the Senate or Republicans keep the one they hold ². The pattern is that a state election dispute is now running on a court calendar set days before the vote, with the president publicly demanding a rival's prosecution.

The Record

1. Oct 26, 2026Judge Sharon Gleason fast-tracks the Justice Department's lawsuit over Alaska's two Dan Sullivans, raising the chance of a ruling before Election Day ².
2. Oct 28, 2026The New York Times reports that people working with Peltola's campaign and DSCC aides helped recruit Daniel J. Sullivan as a spoiler candidate ².
3. Oct 28, 2026Trump calls for Peltola to leave the race and be prosecuted, calling it "voter fraud at the highest level" ¹.

Sources

1. PBS NewsHour, “WATCH: Trump calls for Peltola to drop out after report her campaign helped recruit 2nd Dan Sullivan” (2026-10-28). pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-calls-for-peltola-to-d
2. CNBC, “Peltola campaign aides, DSCC officials helped recruit second Dan Sullivan in Alaska race: NYT” (2026-10-28). cnbc.com/2026/10/28/mary-peltola-dan-sullivan-alaska-senate-

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