House Oversight Chair James Comer said Thursday he’s launching an investigation into allegations that the campaign of former Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Alaska, played a role in recruiting candidates with a similar name to her GOP opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, in order to confuse voters in Tuesday’s election.
The Kentucky Republican is requesting interviews with people allegedly involved in the plot: Elisa Rios, a former Peltola campaign staffer who spoke with the New York Times for the story that detailed Peltola’s alleged actions; and Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic political operative who, according to the Times, recruited people named Dan Sullivan to appear on the ballot.
Comer left open the possibility of issuing subpoenas if Rios and Kurtz do not comply with the transcribed interview requests. He’s also working fast, while his term as the committee’s top Republican culminates at the end of this year and the GOP majority could be lost to Democrats on Election Night: He wants Rios to appear before the committee on Nov. 5 and Kurtz on Nov. 6.
“Democrats are the party of fraud,” Comer said. “Knowing they can’t win on the issues, Democrats schemed to rig the U.S. Senate election in Alaska by deliberately confusing voters. This is part of a broader pattern of misconduct by today’s Democrat Party.”
Rios and Kurtz were not immediately reachable for comment.
The stakes are high for the Alaska Senate race that could decide the balance of power in the chamber — and more broadly in Congress. The Trump Justice Department has already laid the groundwork to challenge the election results if Peltola wins, on the basis that the presence of an independent candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, is an intentional push to mislead the voters; the incumbent senator’s middle initial is “S.”
Last week, the DOJ sued to prevent Alaska state officials from certifying the results should Sullivan lose: “Given the substantial likelihood that the inclusion of Daniel J. Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters looking to cast a vote for Senator Sullivan, and thus distort the will of Alaskan voters, there is a substantial likelihood that a certification of the election will reflect an electoral process that lacked integrity.”
In June, the Alaska Supreme Court allowed the independent Sullivan to stay on the ballot.
Spokespeople for Peltola and Sen. Sullivan, as well as the Oversight Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
