Alaska's all-important Senate race is roiled by a report on alleged spoiler candidate

This combination photo shows Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, left, and another Senate candidate named Dan Sullivan. Mark Thiessen, Becky Bohrer/AP hide caption

Mark Thiessen, Becky Bohrer/AP

Alaska's governor is ordering an investigation after a New York Times report on the state's toss-up U.S. Senate race, which could determine which party controls the chamber next year.

That story detailed efforts by Democratic campaign operatives to recruit what Republicans have long alleged is a spoiler candidate whose presence on the ballot could confuse voters and siphon support from the GOP incumbent. The two candidates share the name Dan Sullivan.

NPR hasn't independently confirmed the Times' reporting, but it's roiled the Senate race just days before Election Day. Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, is hoping to flip the seat for her party.

The Times' story is based on interviews and communications among Peltola's attorneys and advisers, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Democrats have long denied involvement in the non-incumbent Sullivan's candidacy, and both the Peltola campaign and the DSCC reiterated those denials after the Times story published.

While campaigning Wednesday, Peltola called the story a distraction, according to Alaska Public Media, and the non-incumbent Sullivan did not respond to Alaska Public Media's requests for comment. He has previously said it was his decision to run for Senate.

Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters at an election watch party on Aug. 18 in Anchorage. Mark Thiessen/AP hide caption

Mark Thiessen/AP

Republicans have pounced on the news.

"Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along," Nate Adams, a spokesperson for Sen. Sullivan, said in a statement. President Trump called it "Voter Fraud at the Highest Level," in an online post.

Trump's Justice Department had already sought to intervene in the Senate race, asking a court last week to delay certification if the incumbent Sullivan loses by a small margin. The legal effort cited potential voter confusion stemming from the second Sullivan on the ballot.

Election law experts had broadly criticized the DOJ's case as weak, in part because the Constitution grants states control over elections.

The Sullivan candidacies had already been probed by state officials, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that the non-incumbent Sullivan could appear on the general election ballot.

Justice Department officials said Thursday the Times' story expands its options for investigating the Senate race, and it filed an amended complaint citing the new reporting.

And in the wake of the Times story, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Wednesday night that he is directing the state's Department of Public Safety to "investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska's laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted."

It's unclear what laws could have been violated.

Trickery has been fairly common in politics, and it can be difficult to write laws that prevent shenanigans, according to Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who's co-authored a book on dirty tricks in campaigns.

"There's just a lot of tricks," Kamarck told NPR. "There's old ones. There's new ones. In this day and age, the internet makes it really easy to get the word out, both on a trick or, frankly, on a correction to a trick. But it's pretty standard fare for campaigns."

At times major-party advisers will seek to boost third-party candidates, in an effort to boost the other major-party's candidate. Some voters who spoke with Alaska Public Media compared the new reporting about the Sullivan case to Republican groups' spending in support of a Democrat who's a federal prisoner in New York but who's on the state's U.S. House ballot.

The second, non-incumbent Sullivan advanced to the general election after Alaska's nonpartisan primary that sends the top four vote-getters to the fall ballot.

Alaska Public Media found mixed reactions to the Times' reporting, with some residents frustrated that it's drawing attention from other issues, and others expressing skepticism that voters would be confused. The ballot notes which Sullivan is the Republican incumbent.

Some experts have pointed out that all the news about the second Sullivan's candidacy could reduce any voter confusion. And because the state has a ranked-choice voting system for the general election, if voters are confused, they could rank both Sullivans and not rank Peltola.

Whether voters want to keep the state's unique election system is also on the general election ballot.