I’m shocked, shocked! A new report confirms the suspicion that a lefty “Republican” with the same name as the current Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) joined the race after the Democrat whom he previously supported recruited him.
Notably, “Decoy Dan” Sullivan said that he voted Democrat for the last three presidential elections and that he previously backed Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska). Indeed, he registered as a Republican mere days before filing to run against his eponymous senator. Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher tried to kick Decoy Dan off the ballot because she believed the evidence all indicated he was running a bad-faith campaign specifically to sabotage Sen. Sullivan, although courts subsequently intervened to put Decoy Dan back on the ballot.
Now The New York Times is reporting that, in fact, Peltola’s campaign is responsible for the second Dan Sullivan entering the race, claiming to be a Republican despite his previous voting record. A Peltola staffer in summer 2025 acted upon instructions from top campaign aides to search out as many Dan Sullivans in Alaska as possible, The Times reported. The staffer put together a list.
The aim is obvious. Peltola knew she would have a hard time running against Sen. Sullivan in Alaska, and her campaign hoped to find someone of the same name who could confuse Republican voters into splitting their base. Alaska has corrupt ranked-choice voting, so the system unfortunately is even more exploitable. The Times says it viewed text messages, interviews, and documents prepped for a potential lawsuit indicating that Decoy Dan was on the Peltola campaign list and that he was one of the individuals the campaign tried to convince to run. Apparently, other Dan Sullivans in Alaska had more integrity than Decoy Dan and didn't accept the shady deal.
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This new report could bolster the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit arguing Alaska should not certify its election results if Peltola wins and the election bears obvious indications of rigging via Decoy Dan. As recently as Sunday, Peltola was seeking to have the DOJ lawsuit dismissed, but the evidence against her is mounting.
Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of watchdog group Americans for Public Trust, told the New York Post earlier this year that Decoy Dan had veteran Democratic strategist Amber Lee working on his campaign. At the same time, Lee sat on the board of the 907 Initiative. That leftist “watchdog” spent over $1 million on attack ads against Sen. Sullivan.
Sutherland was trying to call attention to the connection between Lee and Sullivan because she insisted it was illegal. “It is absolutely a violation of federal election law for someone to wear two hats,” she told the Post. “You can’t both work for the campaign and work for the outside group that’s running millions of dollars in advertisements that’s benefiting the campaign that you’re working for.”
The new NYT report simply confirms what anyone who researched all the candidates in the race already suspected: Decoy Dan’s campaign is a corrupt Democrat election rig.