‘Do we have a scheme for you’: Democrats recruited a phony Republican, report says

Remember that strange Senate race in Alaska where two guys named Dan Sullivan are on the ballot? Well, we're learning a lot more about how that happened. The New York Times reports aides to Democrat Mary Peltola worked behind the scenes with national Democratic operatives to recruit candidates who could take away votes from Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. And yes, that included looking for other people with his exact name. One of them, a retired teacher, ended up on the ballot. The Times says it reviewed text messages and other documents and spoke with people involved in the effort. The report doesn't establish that Peltola herself was directly involved. Her former campaign manager claimed Peltola knew about the operation, but later contacted The Times asking to retract her statements. Peltola's campaign denies any involvement, saying it didn't recruit candidates or work with either Sullivan campaign. The National Democratic Senate campaign committee also denies involvement. After the report, Peltola told reporters, quote, this is just another distraction. Every day it's some new, you know, look over here moment. This is all stuff to sell newspapers. This is all stuff to get subscriptions. Nobody at the New York Times cares about affordability in Alaska. Republicans have tried to get the other Sullivan removed from the ballot, but Alaska Supreme Court rejected that effort in June. Now Alaska's Republican governor is ordering a state investigation. Mike Dunlevy says state State police will look into whether the recruitment effort broke Alaska law and whether criminal charges or civil penalties are warranted. The Justice Department has also sued Alaska, seeking to block certification of the Senate results if the second Sullivan costs the incumbent the election. President Trump accused Democrats of fraud and perjury and told reporters Peltola should drop out of the race. They said they didn't do it and we caught them cold. And Mary Peltola should resign from the race. I think she should be prosecuted criminally for what she did. Remember, Alaska uses ranked-choice voting so voters can rank both Sullivans. The incumbent is also the only one identified as a Republican on the ballot.