Originally published at: The Trump Administration Gets an Early Start on Interfering in the Midterms - TPM – Talking Points Memo
In Alaska, California, and as-yet-unknown locales, the Trump administration is seeking to undermine the midterm elections. It seems like a different era and a different country at this point, but the 2020 elections saw pitched battles over whether the DOJ would change policy to allow election-related investigations in the immediate aftermath of the vote. One…
It still isn’t illegal, but this does not look good at the moment.
https://electionlawblog.org/2026/inside-democrats-secret-effort-to-stack-alaskas-ballot/
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.
Based on “interviews and emails”. So maybe, maybe not. Needs to be looked at.
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Caravans of Canadians!! You can smell the maple syrup from Kansas City!! So nasty!! They’re all wearing denim jackets stuffed with Chinese bamboo ballots filled in for Democrats!! They’re setting up roadblocks on the highways and only letting white guys pass if they can name a dozen contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race!!
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A little further into the article:
“Ballot-stacking tactics are common in politics and generally considered legal — and have been employed by both parties in Alaska.”
The NYT is offended, I guess, that Democrats would use the same legal dirty tricks that get Republicans elected. I don’t really care.
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WHO CARES, Its not illegal!!!
Shady- yes.
Illegal - how?
The Incumbent Senator has the word “INCUMBENT” next to his name.
Correct?
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Is there a point at which the federal government can be liable for damages for wasting states’ time and resources?
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Donnie doesn’t photograph well.
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“Trump would supposedly be angered by defeats in border states, and may look to further damage relations with Canada as a result.”
Tomorrow: “Trump is reported to be furious at the moon, whose tidal gravity, some aides have told him, is pulling votes away from the GOP.”
Just a completely deranged toddler.
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I believe the article has one aspect backwards: If Peltola gets over 50% of the total vote, then having the two Sullivans on the ballot is irrelevant. If Peltola gets less than 50% but has a plurality of the votes, then it’s possible that the two Sullivan situation siphoned votes away from the incumbent, and, depending on the margin of the plurality, may have affected the final outcome. I hope Peltola (and all other Dems) win, but I agree with Kate that the ballot stacking stunt sucks. We’re better than that.
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Right when they go low, we go high, How has that worked out???
Anything like don’t look back, look foward
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- Dan J. Sullivan only got 2.5% of the vote in the primary. Voters didn’t seem to have a problem distinguishing the candidates then.
- This misses the point of ranked choice voting. If you’re confused but want to make sure the incumbent Dan Sullivan gets your vote - rank them 1-2 on your ballot. When Dan J. falls below the threshold, his votes will get transferred to Dan S.
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rump threatens serious consequences in furious election rant: ‘The Democrats cheated!’
Story by Erik De La Garza
• 42m •
President Donald Trump erupted Wednesday over an alleged Democratic election scheme in Alaska, accusing his political opponents of fraud and demanding that two candidates be removed from the state’s Senate ballot.
“It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The New York Times reported today that political operatives aligned with Mary Peltola sought to recruit a Dan Sullivan, any Dan Sullivan, as a spoiler candidate against the incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Peltola has denied the Times’ reporting.
Trump’s attorneys in his Alaska lawsuit have responded…Now, they want her in the case — so they can seek “expedited discovery from the Campaign regarding the reported conspiracy” including whether the lawsuit was making Peltola sweat.
Given the kakistocracy reality we live in, the truth is going to be that someone on Dan Sullivan’s campaign paid Dan Sullivan to get into the race, while claiming someone on the Peltola campaign did it. And the Trump hissy-fit is going to be the reason it all comes out.
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“Adds drink to your tab where you’re not looking.” (Shades of Obama. Talarico is good.)
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Love how Trump is now calling a New York Times article to be a “determination” of criminal guilt. Peltola should dismiss it and Trump as Fake News.
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It should have been mentioned in the NYT article as well as this one that the Republicans are doing the SAME thing with their sham Democratic candidate in Montana’s Senate election. That candidate who has a long history as a Republican, is thought to be siphoning votes from a moderate Independent, who without a Dem candidate running would be much more likely to run a competitive race against the Republican MAGA candidate. Democrats inside and outside the state have asked, begged, and pleaded with her to step aside, she refused.
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From the article:
Peltola was reportedly not involved in tracking down “the other Dan Sullivans” but was aware of the effort.
Crossposting:
‘I needed the money’: ‘Ghost candidate’ says he was offered $50k to run for…
A ghost candidate who helped sway a Miami-area legislative race back in 2020 testified Friday that he was offered $50,000 to run for office.
Jury allowed to question ‘ghost candidate’ in ex-Sen. Frank Artiles’ trial
In a rare occurrence, jurors were allowed to submit questions to ask the “ghost candidate,” a key witness in the trial of former Republican Sen. Frank Artiles.
Daytona Beach News-Journal Online
Guilty plea, because a payment was involved. I have no idea how Alaska’s similar law reads.
Ghost candidate pleads guilty in Frank Artiles’ Miami election corruption case
Ghost candidate Alex Rodriguez is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to election corruption charges, while other new details have emerged.
A ghost candidate who helped sway a Miami-area legislative race back in 2020 testified Friday that he was offered $50,000 to run for office. The payment of money to do apparently so made it a crime.
The alleged sham candidate, Alex Pedro Rodriguez, under oath, said former state Sen. Frank Artileswas behind his ghost campaign.
Rodriguez never planned on winning, only disrupting the race – which ended up flipping the Senate seat from Democrat to Republican.
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