Peltola campaign aides helped recruit second Dan Sullivan, NYT says

People working with Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola‘s campaign and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee participated in efforts to recruit a man named Daniel J. Sullivan to enter the Alaska Senate contest, in a bid to draw votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The Times — citing interviews, texts and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against Peltola’s campaign — reported that “not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader.”

“The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory,” the newspaper reported.

Peltola’s former campaign manager Elisa Rios told the Times that Peltola was not directly involved in the project, but she was “definitely aware,” according to the report.

The Times noted that Rios last week tried to retract comments she made confirming the effort to recruit spoilers.

Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC “denied participating in efforts to recruit spoilers to the ballot in Alaska,” The Times said.

The report comes days after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit alleging that the campaign by the non-incumbent Sullivan was geared toward him acting as a spoiler for the incumbent Sullivan because of voter confusion.

The DOJ has asked a federal judge in Alaska to block certification of any Senate race result “that may be impacted by voter confusion … pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.”

The winner of the election could determine whether Democrats regain a majority in the Senate, or if Republicans retain their current majority.

President Donald Trump has said he ordered the DOJ’s lawsuit.

“I’m the one that said ‘do it,'” Trump said Friday. “They have two guys … named Dan Sullivan, so the Democrats put up a guy.”

Peltola’s campaign, in a statement to CNBC on The Times article, said, “The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. Like Mary, our campaign is focused on lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC.”

A DSCC spokesperson in a statement to CNBC said, “The DSCC is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.”

“Republicans have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns – including recruiting a prisoner with a New York address to run against Mary Peltola and spending nearly half a million dollars to secure a spot on the ballot in Alaska for an Arizona resident in the Senate race this cycle,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson pointed to several examples of Republicans promoting third-party and dark horse candidates in the current election…