NYT Report: Peltola Campaign Aides and Democratic Party Lawyers Took Part in a 'Ballot Composition Project' to Recruit Spoiler Candidates, Including a Second Dan Sullivan

A new report says the effort behind the second "Dan Sullivan" on Alaska's Senate ballot reached into Mary Peltola's own campaign. Fox News summarized a New York Times investigation published Wednesday.

The project. Per the Times account, the operation was called the "ballot composition project." It allegedly involved aides from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, top campaign advisers, party lawyers and an operative who traveled the state under assumed names. It reportedly began in the summer of 2025, when a Peltola staffer was told to comb voter rolls for Alaskans named Dan Sullivan.

The result. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and left-leaning voter from Petersburg, switched his registration to Republican shortly before filing to run, the report says. He now shares a name with the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

The operative. The report names Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz as central to the plan. He allegedly used aliases such as "Zane" and met potential recruits at local pubs and diners, offering outside financial backing to conservative and independent candidates who would split the right-leaning vote. Operatives also allegedly recruited drywall contractor Gerald Heikes, and pressured progressive candidate David Leslie to drop out so Heikes could take the fourth spot on the ranked-choice ballot.

The "MAGA party" idea. Campaign advisers and the DSCC also weighed creating a third-party "MAGA party" to draw votes from Sullivan before dropping the idea in May, according to the report.

What Peltola's former manager said. Elisa Rios, fired as campaign manager in August, told the Times that Peltola was not directly involved in orchestrating the project but was "definitely aware." She later tried to retract her comments before publication. The Times noted that her interviews were backed by text messages, internal documents and 11 other sources. Messages cited in the report also show staff asking whether to "follow up with Jackie about maga party stuff." Jacquelyn Lopez, an attorney at Elias Law Group, which represents both the DSCC and Peltola's campaign, was reportedly in touch with Kurtz.

The denials. Peltola's campaign said it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race." The DSCC said it had no role in recruiting either Sullivan or any other Republican candidate, and pointed to what it called a long Republican history of propping up candidates in Democratic races.

The reaction. President Trump posted on Truth Social that Peltola should not be allowed to keep her name on the ballot, calling it "ELECTION FRAUD." The White House's communications director also shared the story.

The legal backdrop. The Justice Department has already sued to block certification if Sen. Sullivan loses because of voter confusion over the two identical names. Our earlier coverage of that lawsuit is on the site. Peltola is the only Democrat on the four-person ballot, alongside Sen. Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan and Heikes.

Note for readers: these are allegations from a newspaper investigation as relayed by Fox News. We have not read the Times piece ourselves, and the campaign and the DSCC deny recruiting anyone.