Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) committed to accepting the results of the Alaska Senate election regardless of whether he wins the race against Democratic challenger Mary Peltola.
“I’m going to accept the election results,” Sullivan said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday when asked how he would proceed if Peltola wins on Tuesday.
The incumbent Sullivan is running against Peltola, Republican Gerald Heikes, and former forest service employee Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. in Alaska’s ranked choice Senate election. Republicans suspect Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who is listed on the ballot without a party designation, ran as a spoiler candidate in the race, as he has the same name as the incumbent.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola’s campaign recruited spoiler candidates named Dan Sullivan to confuse voters supporting Sen. Dan Sullivan. The story alleged that Peltola’s former campaign manager Elisa Rios said Peltola was aware of the initiative but did not participate directly and that a former campaign staffer was directed to “find as many people named Dan Sullivan as you can.”
The Department of Justice is investigating the ballot situation regarding the candidate Republicans have dubbed “Decoy Dan.” When CNN asked Sen. Dan Sullivan if the alleged scheme by Peltola’s campaign was legal or not, Sullivan said he would “let the lawyers figure that out” but added, “I think there’s some good arguments on both sides.”
“The key thing I’m focused on is looking at Peltola and her team, and the Democrats in [Washington,] D.C., and how they treat Alaskans with disdain,” Sullivan said. “Their first order of business, like I said, is: ‘How can we trick people in Alaska so they can throw the vote in a way that’s certainly deceitful, if not illegal, towards Peltola?’”
“This is treating the people of my state with utter disrespect and disdain, and I don’t think it’s worthy of a U.S. senator or a U.S. Senate candidate,” Sullivan continued.
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. had originally registered as a Republican in the state’s Senate race and was initially removed from the ballot by the state’s Division of Elections. After the Alaska Supreme Court restored his spot on the ballot, his party affiliation was changed to nonpartisan, as recommended by the division.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. acted illegally in an interview on Meet the Press on Sunday morning. When asked repeatedly by host Kristen Welker, Scott did not commit to accepting the results of the election if Sullivan loses on Tuesday.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN TELLS ALASKANS NOT TO RANK MARY PELTOLA BUT INCLUDE ‘DECOY DAN’ ON BALLOT
“Listen, it is immoral, in my opinion, for a candidate to lie about who they are. I think it’s unethical for a candidate to lie about their opponent. But we know that it is criminal for candidates to work in collusion with other parties to confuse voters – and that’s exactly what ‘Decoy Dan’ has done in Alaska,” Scott said.
When asked repeatedly by host Kristen Welker, Scott did not commit to accepting the results of the election if Sullivan loses on Tuesday.