Aides to Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola worked with Democratic Party officials and political operatives on an effort to recruit additional candidates into the state’s 2026 Senate race, according to a New York Times investigation based on interviews, text messages and documents.
The effort, internally called the “ballot composition project,” sought to divide Republican support by adding candidates to Alaska’s four-person general election ballot, including a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The operation began in the summer of 2025, when a Peltola campaign staffer was instructed to identify Alaskans named Dan Sullivan. The Times reported that Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz later contacted Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, and described him as willing to run if it could help Peltola. Kurtz allegedly used a false name, “Zane,” while approaching other potential candidates. Text messages reviewed by The Times showed Peltola campaign aides and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) officials exchanging updates about the effort. The investigation also identified attempts to recruit other candidates, including Gerald Heikes, and efforts to encourage Democratic candidate David Leslie to withdraw so a Republican could take his place on the ballot.
The reporting also described discussions about financially supporting recruited candidates through outside spending and the possibility of creating a new conservative political party to draw more Republican-aligned candidates into the race.
Federal Election Commission records showed that a pro-Peltola super PAC paid a firm co-owned by Kurtz about $87,000 this fall, although the PAC said it had never hired or paid him for services. Peltola’s former campaign manager Elisa Rios, who provided details of the operation to The Times, said Peltola was not directly involved but was “definitely aware.”
President Trump’s Justice Department has separately filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s Senate election results if votes for Dan J. Sullivan cause Sen. Dan Sullivan to lose. The lawsuit was filed at Trump’s direction and focuses on the possibility of voter confusion between the two candidates.
