Alaska voters are staring at two men named Dan Sullivan on their Senate ballot.
Turns out the second Dan Sullivan didn't get there by accident.
James Comer has the text messages proving who put him there and why.
How the Peltola Campaign Put a Fake Dan Sullivan on the Alaska Ballot
Mary Peltola is the Democrat challenging two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan for Alaska's Senate seat – a race that could decide which party controls the chamber.
Alaska runs its elections with every candidate on a single ballot, regardless of party.
A second candidate sharing the Republican incumbent's name could siphon his votes without a single voter realizing what happened.
Peltola's campaign saw that opening.
Text messages obtained by the New York Times show Peltola operatives launched what they internally called the "ballot composition project" – a deliberate effort to search Alaska voter rolls for people named Dan Sullivan and recruit one to run against him.
The plan was to put two Dan Sullivans on the same ballot, split the Republican vote, and hand Peltola the seat.
They found their man in Dan J. Sullivan – a retired teacher from the southeast Alaska fishing town of Petersburg.
He wasn't just recruited to run – he tried to file under the name "Dan S. Sullivan," copying the sitting senator's exact middle initial, and his campaign logo mirrored the senator's colors and layout.
He had never once registered to vote as "Dan Sullivan" in his entire adult life – his legal name was "Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr."
Alaska's elections official called it a "determined effort and deliberate attempt" to confuse voters and initially disqualified him from the ballot.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent an urgent letter to Alaska election officials calling him a "Sham Candidate" and demanding his removal.
The Alaska Supreme Court put him back on the ballot in June, even after state election officials documented how his campaign logo was color-matched and styled to look exactly like the senator's.
Now he's on the ballot alongside the real Dan Sullivan.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer is calling in Elisa Rios – Peltola's former campaign manager and one of the people connected to those texts – to testify before Congress on November 5, two days after the election.
He's also calling Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative the text messages show helped recruit the fake Dan Sullivan, to appear on November 6.
The requests are voluntary for now – Comer has already said subpoenas are coming if they refuse.
"Democrats are the party of fraud," Comer said. "Knowing they can't win on the issues, Democrats schemed to rig the U.S. Senate election in Alaska by deliberately confusing voters."
House Oversight Has Caught Democrats Running Election Fraud Before
This is not the first time Comer's committee has caught Democrats treating elections and public funds like their personal property.
His committee's investigation into ActBlue – Democrats' online fundraising platform – exposed illegal foreign donations flowing into Democratic campaigns.
His investigation into Minnesota exposed how Tim Walz and Keith Ellison allowed fraudsters to steal $350 million from programs meant to feed children, with money wired to luxury hotels and overseas accounts.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied any involvement with Dan J. Sullivan's campaign – a denial that got harder to sustain once the New York Times reported DSCC staffers were on some of those very texts.
The people whose job is electing Senate Democrats were on those texts.
Trump ordered the Justice Department to sue Alaska to block certification of the election results if Sullivan loses, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered a separate state criminal investigation.
The DOJ's lawsuit argues there is a "substantial likelihood that the inclusion of Daniel J. Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters" and demands Alaska hold certification until investigators determine how many votes went to the wrong man.
The Justice Department Just Escalated This to a Criminal Investigation
The DOJ didn't stop at the lawsuit – today it issued at least three dozen grand jury subpoenas to Peltola's Senate campaign office and to Dan J. Sullivan Jr.'s campaign, turning what started as a civil certification dispute into a federal criminal investigation.
Attorney General Todd Blanche went on Fox News today to say the New York Times reporting proved the Justice Department was right to file its lawsuit – and the DOJ's own court filings describe the scheme as a "conspiracy."
The DOJ also amended its lawsuit to allege that Peltola's campaign misled the court about its connection to the Sullivan candidacy.
Rios – Peltola's former campaign manager – retracted everything she told the New York Times today, days before she is due to appear before Congress.
Democrats built a professional operation, gave it a project name, and put all of it in writing – and now a federal grand jury has subpoenas out to every office involved.
When you retract your story the week you're called to testify, you're not helping yourself.
Sources:
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Chairman Comer Seeks Testimony from Democrat Operatives Who Plotted to Rig Alaska Senate Race," October 29, 2026.
- Jeff Mordock, "House Republicans want answers on Alaska's second Dan Sullivan," The Washington Times, October 29, 2026.
- Washington Examiner, "Two Dan Sullivans running for Alaska Senate to be identified on ballot with middle initials," June 3, 2026.
- James Brooks, "Trump administration sues to block Alaska's US Senate election result if Peltola wins," Alaska Beacon, October 23, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Amended Complaint, United States v. Alaska, October 29, 2026.