Trump, GOP escalate campaign to subvert Alaska’s Senate election if Democrat wins

The Trump administration and the GOP are stepping up their campaign to interfere with Alaska’s pivotal Senate race — with President Donald Trump calling for the Democratic Senate candidate to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.

It’s the latest escalation in an ongoing Trump administration effort to use the power of the federal government to subvert the midterms in Alaska and elsewhere, with polls showing the GOP heading for major losses.

Republicans and the administration are seizing on the presence on Alaska’s ballot of a spoiler candidate with a similar name to the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is running for re-election. They have called it an effort to confuse voters. 

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) called for an investigation Wednesday, hours after a New York Times report that the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola was involved in recruiting the candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, which the campaign has denied. And Fox News reported that an existing criminal investigation into the issue has been stepped up since the report appeared.

President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that Peltola “should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.”

Alaska’s Supreme Court ruled this summer that Daniel J. Sullivan could stay on the ballot, after state elections officials had removed him at the Alaska Republican Party’s request. It found no state laws had been broken. 

“Ballot-stacking tactics are common in politics and generally considered legal — and have been employed by both parties in Alaska,” the New York Times noted in its report. 

Asked Wednesday whether it’s illegal for campaigns to recruit spoiler candidates for the ballot, Attorney General Todd Blanche replied: “It certainly should be.” 

Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an extraordinary lawsuit over the issue, which aims to block certification of results if Peltola wins.* It appears aimed at laying the groundwork to obstruct the post-election process by which Peltola would be seated in the Senate.

Late Wednesday, a federal court granted a motion by Democrats and the Peltola campaign to intervene in the lawsuit. 

DOJ must respond by Thursday evening to separate motions to dismiss the lawsuit, filed by the Peltola campaign and by state election administrators, who are defendants in the case.

*The Elias Law Group (ELG) represents Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in this case. ELG Firm Chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.