The Alaska rort

Republican Senator Daniel (Scott) Sullivan is standing for re-election against Democrat Mary Peltola. Alaska rules allow up to four people on the ballot and one of the other two candidates is a Daniel J Sullivan, who is also listed as a Republican.

It has been obvious for some time he is there to try and confuse people into voting for the wrong Daniel Sullivan. But the assumption was he just decided to stand himself.

The NY Times has run a story showing that Democratic operatives actually searched the entire state to try and find people called Daniel Sullivan to run:

In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can. …

The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy. But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, 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.

This should be denounced. You should win based on more people actually wanted you than your opponent, not based on trying to get people to accidentally not vote for your opponent. I hope Peltola loses.