By Jacob Bogage
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Alaska’s Republican governor has ordered a state investigation of allegations in a New York Times report that Democrats recruited spoiler candidates in the state’s US Senate race, raising the prospect of a messy fight over a contest that could determine Senate control in next Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Alaska is one of about 10 highly competitive races that will decide control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Democrats need a net gain of four seats, and a post-election dispute in Alaska could leave control of the chamber unclear for weeks.
Governor Mike Dunleavy said on Wednesday that the probe would examine whether any laws were broken, posting on X that “the evidence will determine what happens next,” hours after the Times reported that aides to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola worked to recruit two candidates who could siphon votes from incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday, “It’s hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run. Frankly, I don’t know how you can allow somebody like that to run. It’s so unfair.”
Trump for years has sowed doubts about the fairness of US elections and even prior to the Times report had pushed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit seeking to preemptively block Alaska from seating Peltola, a former congresswoman, if she were to win the election.
The Times reported on Wednesday that Peltola aides worked with campaign lawyers and staff at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit two candidates who could siphon votes from the incumbent Republican Sullivan, including a retired teacher also named Dan Sullivan who is on the ballot. Peltola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, told the Times that Peltola was aware of the effort.
Peltola’s campaign said it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The DSCC also denied involvement and accused Republicans of propping up candidates of their own in other races.
‘CULTURE OF DECEPTION’
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Thursday lambasted what he called the “crazy tactics” of Democrats in Alaska, saying in an interview with Fox News that “we hope it doesn’t confuse voters, but that’s exactly what the Democrats tried to do here. They got caught red-handed.”
US Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, called for Peltola to be honest.
“Recruiting candidates to manipulate the field and influence voting outcomes is simply wrong. Alaskans deserve the honest truth from Mary and her campaign — what has been revealed is a pattern of lies and coverups and a culture of deception that belongs nowhere in our elections or among our elected officials,” she posted on X.
TRUMP IN SOUTH CAROLINA, HARRIS IN GEORGIA
Trump was due to hold a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Thursday, his second visit in two weeks to a state where polls show an unexpectedly close race between Republican Senator Darline Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews.
With control of the Senate at stake, both parties are deploying their biggest names in the closing days of the campaign, with Trump stumping for Republicans and former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigning for Democrats in competitive races.
Recent opinion polls show Democrats to be competitive in traditionally Republican states including Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Texas.
Darline Graham is the sister of late Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July and was a key foreign policy voice in Congress and a go-between for Senate Republican leaders and the White House. He counted his sister as his foremost political adviser, though opinion polls suggest her campaign stumbles have hurt her standing.
Former South Carolina elected officials have backed Andrews in recent days. Two former governors, Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges, endorsed Andrews in a television advertisement.
Responding to criticism of her campaign as unpolished, Graham said she was not a career politician and does not “speak politician.” Graham’s campaign has said endorsements from political figures mattered less than support from voters and from Trump.
Trump’s approval rating stood at 32% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday, near a record low, as Americans sour on the high cost of living and the war with Iran.
Some 41.4 million Americans had already voted as of Thursday morning, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. A total of 45.9 million voted early in the 2022 midterms.
CALIFORNIA COURT SETBACK
A US judge on Wednesday rejected a Justice Department request to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleges are likely noncitizens.
“If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger,” US District Judge David Carter wrote. The Justice Department appealed.
After South Carolina, Trump is scheduled to campaign in Florida on Friday, Kansas on Saturday and Iowa on Sunday.
(Reporting by Jacob Bogage, Nolan McCaskill, Ryan Jones and Katharine Jackson in Washington, Bo Erickson and Nandita Bose; Writing by Brad Brooks; editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
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