Peltola denies report her campaign worked to recruit another ‘Dan Sullivan’
Peltola denies report her campaign worked to recruit another ‘Dan Sullivan’
Joe Khalil Wed, October 28, 2026 at 8:49 PM UTC
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(NewsNation) — Democrats actively recruited potential spoilers in Alaska's Senate race, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Aides to Mary Peltola, the Senate Democratic nominee, worked with the campaign's lawyers and senior staff at Senate Democrats’ campaign arm to recruit two candidates who are on the ballot and could siphon votes from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to the Times.
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Alaska's ranked-choice ballot will feature Sullivan, Peltola, a retired teacher whose name is Daniel J. Sullivan and a longshot candidate named Gerald Heikes, who has run for governor and the House of Representatives multiple times. Heikes replaced Democrat David Leslie after the progressive candidate was urged to withdraw.
The report cites 12 sources and references text messages and documents showing that Peltola campaign aides, the campaign’s lawyers and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staffers were involved in pushing other candidates, including Daniel J. Sullivan, to run.
Peltola’s campaign and national Democrats have denied the allegations in the Times report.
“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 D.C. and did not recruit any candidates into the race,” the Peltola campaign said in a statement to NewsNation affiliate The Hill.
The DSCC also told The Hill in a statement it had “no involvement” in recruiting the other Sullivan. Peltola’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Nate Adams, campaign spokesman for Sen. Dan Sullivan, told NewsNation, "Alaskans deserve to know the truth."
“Mary Peltola, her campaign, and her senior advisors colluded with the DSCC, national Democrat lawyers, and Alaska Democrat operatives to recruit a candidate to deliberately deceive and confuse voters, and then repeatedly lied about it," Adams said. "Not one player in this operation has acted in good faith with Alaska voters. Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along. We always knew this was a concerted effort to deceive voters, and Mary Peltola was hoping it would stay hidden until after the election.”
Heikes, another Republican on the ballot, told NewsNation that a man approached him in person and said, "If you run against Sullivan, we'll back you."
After a phone call, Heikes and the recruiter met in person and "talked for about 15 minutes" about running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican. The recruiter told Heikes he could not provide him with any financial backing.
Heikes could not confirm the name or identity of the man who attempted to recruit him.
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Matthew Salisbury, a one-time U.S. House candidate and insurance manager in Alaska, told NewsNation he was also approached by a man to run as an independent in the Senate race.
Salisbury told NewsNation over the phone that a man who identified himself as "Zane" called him from a Google Voice number. Salisbury, who later met the man in person, said he offered a lot of money for an independent candidate.
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Salisbury said The New York Times presented a photo of Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative and consultant for the Pelota campaign. Salisbury, an Anchorage resident, said Kurtz was the man with whom he met to discuss a Senate campaign.
NewsNation has reached out to Kurtz for comment.
Salisbury told NewsNation he had "no idea" the man he met with was allegedly tied to the Democrats.
A Pro-Peltola PAC called 49th State paid Wingspan Strategies, a management consulting firm co-owned by Kurtz, almost $14,000 as recently as Oct. 14, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
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The Department of Justice filed suit in federal court last week to block certification of Alaska's election results if Sullivan narrowly loses his reelection bid. Lawyers for Peltola's campaign have asked the judge to dismiss the Trump administration's lawsuit.
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Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, so Democrats would need to gain four seats in the midterm elections to take control of the chamber.
Alaska, a state Republican President Donald Trump won by 13 percentage points in 2024, is one of several battlegrounds that will determine which party holds the Senate for the final two years of Trump's presidency.
Reuters and NewsNation affiliate The Hill contributed to this report.
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