O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
The tangled web of Alaska politics just got a few more kinks and knots in the Senate race, in which incumbent Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is running against Democrat Mary Peltola and... Dan Sullivan. The second Sullivan is broadly suspected to be running as a spoiler, to try to help the Peltola campaign by muddying the waters. That's likely the case. But now, on Wednesday, the day after Mary Peltola put in a better-than-expected performance in Alaska's primary election, a federal Department of Justice grand jury has issued several subpoenas in the matter.
Things are about to get interesting.
DOJ issues grand jury subpoenas in dueling Dan Sullivans’ Republican Senate saga
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) August 19, 2026
Asked about why a Democratic consultant helped him file to run, Dan J. Sullivan declined to comment
Other fun fact:
Dan J Sullivan initially registered to run as Dan S. Sullivan, using the middle…
Mr. Spicer writes:
DOJ issues grand jury subpoenas in dueling Dan Sullivans’ Republican Senate saga
Asked about why a Democratic consultant helped him file to run, Dan J. Sullivan declined to comment
Other fun fact: Dan J Sullivan initially registered to run as Dan S. Sullivan, using the middle initial of the incumbent
And Dan J also registered as a Republican on the same day in May that he filed to run.
Curiouser and curiouser. As of this writing, the Justice Department has not made any official announcement on the matter.
There could be serious First Amendment issues here. There may be some actionable offense based on the assertion that the challenging Dan Sullivan dishonestly gave the wrong middle initial when he filed, in order to look more like the incumbent Dan Sullivan, but that seems like a bit of a stretch. And Alaska's laws allow registered voters to change parties at any time for any reason. To make this an issue, one would almost have to be able to read minds, which a grand jury, last I checked, is unable to do. Still, I will maintain what I said earlier about this issue: It's not the proper place of government to judge the sincerity of a political candidate.
There may yet be a problem for the challenger Sullivan. Election Law Blog's Rick Hasen has some thoughts.
As I understand it, the core complaint here is that Dan J. Sullivan ran for office hoping to confuse voters into voting for him for U.S. Senate, and thereby helping the Democratic Senate candidate, Mary Peltola, win in Alaska’s top-four primary over Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan.
Now we cannot be sure what J.’s motivations are (see this NY Times report with lots of reasons but no ironclad evidence to think J. is actually running to help the Democrat). But let’s assume he’s running to help Peltola.
If J. ultimately is charged with violating the Ku Klux Klan Act (18 U.S.C. s 241), which punishes a conspiracy to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State. . . in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States,” I think J. would have a very strong First Amendment defense (and likely for the wire fraud claims too, but I don’t know enough about what the basis for those charges might be).
We don't know yet what the subpoenas are asking for.
Look, questionable campaign tactics are used all the time. In the 2008 election, the late, great Rush Limbaugh urged his listeners on in what he called Operation Chaos to change registrations and vote in Democrat primaries to drag Hillary Clinton's campaign on against Barack Obama, to make the Democrat primary more contentious, not to mention costing both candidates more money, to weaken them in the general election. It didn't work, but that was certainly the intent. Republicans will occasionally push Green candidates, Democrats, Libertarians — anything to split a few voters away from the main party candidates, anything to muddy the waters. Politics is, after all, a dirty business, and once in a while a campaign will have to get down in there and wallow with the hogs.
That's almost certainly what's going on here. We'll wait for more news on this affair, but as of this writing, I'm guessing that nothing much will come of it.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
Help RedState continue to report on the Democrats’ radicalism and inform voters as our nation faces a crossroads. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member