Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s allies worked with operatives trying to recruit spoiler candidates into Alaska’s Senate race to siphon votes from Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, according to a report.
The report comes less than a week after the Justice Department sued over the race in court, arguing that certification of the vote should be blocked if votes cast for a second candidate with a similar name, Dan J. Sullivan, end up costing the incumbent reelection.
Election law experts told the New York Times that such a case would face steep hurdles because states run elections and voting has not yet taken place.
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Citing 12 interviews, dozens of text messages and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit, the newspaper reported that an effort known internally as the “ballot composition project” began in the summer of 2025 and extended beyond the recruitment of Dan J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg.
He has maintained that he entered the race on his own.
According to the NYT, Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz, who was introduced by Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aides as a specialist in ballot maneuvers, helped lead the recruitment effort while at times using the name Zane. Gerald Heikes, who is now on the ballot, said he was approached by “a guy from the Midwest.”
Another candidate, Democrat David Leslie, dropped out on Aug. 31 after receiving calls from Democratic figures, including Mr. Kurtz.
Mr. Kurtz did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment, removed his public LinkedIn profile and turned his X account private.
According to online records with LegiStorm, Mr. Kurtz appears to have served as a campaign manager for Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and overall worked in Democratic politics for over a decade, including as a spokesperson for former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and the Ohio Democratic Party.
The NYT’s primary on-the-record source was Elisa Rios, Ms. Peltola’s former campaign manager, who was fired in August.
Ms. Rios said Ms. Peltola was not directly involved in recruiting candidates but was “definitely aware” of the effort.
Ms. Rios later asked the NYT to retract her statements, but the paper said it was not obligated to do so and that her account was consistent with its broader reporting.
Ms. Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC denied any role in recruiting candidates.
“The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race,” the campaign said.
Mr. Kurtz did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment.
Ms. Peltola has a narrow lead over Dan S. Sullivan in the Real Clear Politics average of polls. The race could decide which party controls the Senate in the final two years of the Trump presidency.
Alaska’s nonpartisan primaries let candidates claim any party label without vetting by the parties, the NYT reported, adding that ballot-stacking tactics are generally legal and have been employed by both parties in the state.
The newspaper pointed to 2024 when Republicans backed an effort to keep a Democratic inmate, who ran his campaign from a New York prison, on the ballot when Ms. Peltola sought reelection to the House.
Republicans pounced on the NYT’s latest report on the recruiting effort.
“BREAKING: Democrats’ secret, CORRUPT plan to stack Alaska’s ballot EXPOSED!” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said on X.
Mr. Trump late last week told reporters the DOJ filed the lawsuit at his behest, saying Democrats were behind the effort to get the other Sullivan on the ballot.
“All of a sudden, he decides to run for the Senate, and his name is Dan Sullivan,” Mr. Trump said. “One is Daniel S., one is Daniel J. The Daniel J. is the fake.
“It is a disgrace.”
• Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.
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