Republicans in Congress have signaled they will further investigate the ongoing scandal in Alaska involving Democrats’ use of a candidate with a nearly identical name to incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican.

The New York Times recently revealed an extensive and secret effort by Democrats in Alaska to find a man named Dan Sullivan to file as a Republican and run against the senator, in the hopes of siphoning votes from the incumbent by confusing voters. The scheme was apparently orchestrated by members of Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 

The Times later reported that Peltola said "she didn't know" about what the newspaper called "ballot stacking." 

"Conspiracy to create confusion," senator alleges

Following the report, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announced that he had sent records preservation and communications requests to three individuals allegedly involved in the scheme, his office said Thursday.

“Every American should want to restore confidence and integrity to our election system. The New York Times report on the conspiracy to create confusion in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race details outrageous and possibly criminal behavior on the part of Democrat operatives. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has sent a number of records preservation letters to help ensure evidence of wrongdoing is not destroyed,” Johnson said in the announcement.

Johnson sent letters to Jerid Kurtz, a Democrat operative; Anton McParland, Peltola’s former chief of staff; and Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, who were all named in the Times article as having participated in the scheme. He requested the individuals preserve all communications to or from each other and three other people referring to or relating to the scheme.

He also requested they preserve “all records referring or relating to the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Alaska.”

A second front opens up

In the House, Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced Thursday that he was seeking testimony from Rios and Kurtz about the scheme in Alaska.

Comer's announcement recited a litany of complaints about Democrats' allegedly lacking integrity: “Democrats are the party of fraud. 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. Our investigation into ActBlue, the Democrats’ online fundraising platform, exposed it illegally accepted foreign donations."

The announcement continued to read, "Our investigation into rampant fraud in Minnesota’s taxpayer-funded social services programs revealed how Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison allowed the theft to continue for years. Americans deserve answers about this latest attempt by Democrats to defraud the American people, and we will get them.” 

Both Walz and Ellison have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Comer requested that Rios testify in person before his committee on Nov. 5 and Kurtz to testify in person on Nov. 6.

Just the News could not determine if Comer had merely sent letters to Rios and Kurtz, or actual subpoenas.