FBI Probes Alaska Senate ‘Decoy Candidate’ Scheme as Election Nears

Just days before the midterm election, the FBI is contacting donors of Dan J. Sullivan, asking about possible deception tied to the Senate candidate in Alaska who shares a name with the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan. An Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, the remote fishing town where the candidate lives, leaving a business card for Charles Flint, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Flint, who said he’s known Dan J. Sullivan for years as a respected teacher and musician, told the AP the agent asked his son whether Mr. Flint felt “misled” about which candidate he supported.“I don’t feel like I’ve been misled at all,” Mr. Flint said, adding he had no plans to call the agent back but would “let him waste his time trying to track me down.” He said he intends to rank Democrat Mary Peltola first, followed by Dan J. Sullivan, noting, “Everybody knows who the incumbent is.”The FBI visit followed confirmation from federal officials of a criminal probe, and the Department of Justice pushed Friday for a court order isolating certain Alaska ballots to investigate potential voter confusion. The U.S. attorney for the District of Alaska, Michael Heyman, said the investigation has run for months but intensified after a New York Times report suggested Ms. Peltola’s campaign helped recruit the second Mr. Sullivan, a retired teacher, triggering what he called a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska.”Ms. Peltola, a former congresswoman challenging Senator Sullivan, denied any involvement at an Anchorage rally Friday. “I know I can beat Dan Sullivan. I do not need any help winning this race,” she told campaign volunteers, according to the AP. She called the allegations “garbage” and said they were part of a “smear campaign” meant to suppress turnout.The tactic of recruiting same-named candidates to split votes is decades old, dating at least to a 1946 Boston congressional primary involving a young janitor named Joe Russo who was recruited by allies of the eventual winner, John F. Kennedy. Critics argue the Trump administration has used the Justice Department to target political adversaries, noting a recent burst of investigative activity despite a long-standing norm against major DOJ actions close to elections.Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official under President Biden, said he did not see any legal violation. “It may be distasteful, but it happens all the time,” Mr. Levitt said. “There is no behavior that has been disclosed that is in violation of federal law.”An election law attorney, Jason Torchinsky, said the episode exposes vulnerabilities in Alaska’s ranked-choice system, where a $100 filing fee can land any candidate on the ballot. “This is just Exhibit A for how ranked-choice voting systems can be manipulated by various actors,” he told the AP.

FBI Probes Alaska Senate ‘Decoy Candidate’ Scheme as Election Nears

FBI Probes Alaska Senate ‘Decoy Candidate’ Scheme as Election Nears

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