The Radical Reading Room

A New York Times investigation reported Wednesday that people connected to Mary Peltola’s campaign worked to recruit Dan J. Sullivan, a candidate sharing a name with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, into Alaska’s Senate race. The report said the effort was intended to draw support from the incumbent and improve Peltola’s chances. Peltola’s campaign denied the allegations.

The investigation, as described in the reports, cited text messages and documents. It said the recruitment effort extended beyond Dan J. Sullivan to other potential candidates who could draw votes from the incumbent. The accounts characterize the alleged activity as involving people tied to Peltola’s political operation; they do not establish that Peltola personally directed it.

Dan J. Sullivan is a retired teacher, and the reports describe him as having no prior campaign for public office. The allegation concerns efforts to recruit him to run, not a finding by election officials or a court that the campaign’s account of his candidacy is true. The sources describe his candidacy as part of the dispute, while the campaign rejects institutional involvement.

The competing accounts leave the central allegation contested. Peltola’s campaign denied the report, while the reporting attributes the claims to its investigation and cited materials. Dan J. Sullivan has described his bid as independent, according to the corroborating reports. The accounts establish that the investigation and denial were public, but do not resolve whether the alleged recruitment effort changed voters’ choices or the race’s outcome.