Murkowski Defended Scheming Opponent Until NYT Investigation Piled On Deception Allegations
Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski dismissed the Trump administration’s attempt to block Alaska’s Senate election results over a candidate with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan — but changed her tune Wednesday after a New York Times report detailed allegations of a coordinated effort to manipulate the race.
Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign and aides from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee tried to sabotage Republican Alaska Sen. Dan S. Sullivan’s reelection chances by recruiting a candidate with the same name and getting him on the ranked-choice ballot, The New York Times (NYT) reported Wednesday. Before the report, however, Murkowski defended the scheming opponent, Dan J. Sullivan, and dismissed the Trump administration and Department of Justice’s legal challenge.
“Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot,” Murkowski said Oct. 23. “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.”
Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot. The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.
https://t.co/88tGvV0P8O
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) October 24, 2026
After the NYT report, Murkowski condemned the Peltola campaign’s alleged scheme and manipulation as “ballot-stacking” that “should have no place in our electoral process.”
“Run and win on your merits: your views, your policy ideas, and your accomplishments,” Murkowski said Wednesday. “By contrast, 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.”
While some may try to write this off as just how politics works now, ballot-stacking should have no place in our electoral process. Run and win on your merits: your views, your policy ideas, and your accomplishments. By contrast, 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.
— Lisa Murkowski (@LisaForSenate) October 28, 2026
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