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Alaska governor orders probe into Peltola over alleged ballot plot
Updated on: October 29, 2026 / 6:59 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after a New York Times report that people aligned with the campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as her main opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.Dunleavy said in a post on social media that there had already been a probe by the Alaska Division of Elections, so he was ordering the Department of Public Safety to "investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska's laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted." "Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support," Dunleavy wrote. "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections."Peltola's campaign and the Democrats' Senate campaign arm have strongly denied any hand in getting the duplicate Sullivan on the ballot.At a campaign stop in Soldotna, Alaska, Peltola called the report a "distraction," according to Alaska Public Media."Nobody's waking up worried about ballot composition," she said. "Not even me. I'm worried about my bills. I'm worried about affordability in health care."President Trump weighed in on Wednesday, telling reporters "I think (Peltola and the other Sullivan) should be prosecuted." In an earlier social media post, he said the Democrat "shouldn't be allowed to run" and that the party had "crated fake candidates."