Alaska U.S. Attorney Says DOJ Probing 'Decoy' Sullivan Scheme

The top federal prosecutor in Alaska stood before reporters in Anchorage on Friday and said the Justice Department is taking seriously the alleged effort to put a second “Dan Sullivan” on the state’s U.S. Senate ballot, with the election now just days away.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman and Matthew Schlegel, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Anchorage field office, were set to speak at the James M. Fitzgerald U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in downtown Anchorage, according to a Justice Department press release reported by KTUU-TV (Alaska’s News Source).

“We are taking that extremely seriously.”

A Justice Department official responds to allegations that members of Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign helped recruit and promote "decoy" Daniel J. Sullivan as a sham candidate.

The official says the department is committed to… pic.twitter.com/a8ZGEHEXOb

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 30, 2026

Heyman said the department is aware of a New York Times report alleging that operatives linked to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign helped recruit a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a first and last name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to video of his remarks posted by CBS News on X.

“The Justice Department takes every allegation of this sort extremely seriously when it comes to voter corruption or disrupting the integrity of the election process,” Heyman said, according to CBS News. “We will not let anyone or any group undermine the election,” he added, per the same CBS News post.

Fox News also aired the Anchorage briefing live, and a Fox News post on X quoted a Justice Department official saying of the allegations, “We are taking that extremely seriously.”

Subpoenas and a civil lawsuit

The Justice Department has begun issuing a new wave of subpoenas in its criminal investigation of the Alaska Senate race, including subpoenas targeting several Democratic officials believed to be tied to the effort to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan, multiple sources told CBS News. CBS News reported that nobody involved in the race has been charged with a crime.

The department also amended its civil lawsuit seeking to block certification of the results if Sen. Sullivan loses because of “voter confusion,” adding details from the Times report and calling the situation a “conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the electoral process,” according to CBS News.

In a briefing with reporters Thursday, a Justice Department official pointed to two civil rights statutes, 18 U.S.C. Sections 241 and 242, as possible avenues for prosecution, CBS News reported. The same official acknowledged the department was not aware of any confirmed case of an Alaska voter mistakenly casting a ballot for the wrong Sullivan, according to CBS News.

Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied any connection to the effort to put Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot, CBS News reported.

The state’s side

Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy this week ordered Alaska’s Department of Public Safety to examine whether the alleged recruitment effort broke state law, according to CBS News.

Meanwhile, the state of Alaska has asked U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit, arguing the federal government lacks standing, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The state’s filing said ranked choice voting lets any voter unsure about the two Sullivans rank both, and noted that the ballot lists the challenger as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party affiliation and the senator as Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, according to the Daily News.

Sources

• CBS News on X: Heyman remarks (Oct. 30)
• Fox News on X: DOJ official remarks (Oct. 30)
• KTUU: Justice Department to hold press conference in Anchorage
• CBS News: DOJ issues new subpoenas in Alaska Senate probe
• Anchorage Daily News: State asks judge to toss DOJ lawsuit
• Fox News: U.S. Attorney, FBI briefing on Alaska Senate ballot probe

Reporting by Daily Beltway.