Report: Alaska’s Second Dan Sullivan Leaves Hometown Days Before Election

Daniel J. Sullivan, the independent Alaska Senate candidate accused of entering the race to draw votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, left his hometown days before the election, according to CBS News. A former student told CBS News she saw the retired teacher aboard a flight from Petersburg to Anchorage on Monday. His departure came two days before the New York Times published an investigation linking his candidacy to a recruitment effort involving people associated with Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign. The report did not establish why Sullivan was traveling or where he went after Anchorage. A friend told CBS that Sullivan and his wife frequently travel. His departure comes as state and federal investigators examine allegations that Democrat operatives helped put him on the ballot to confuse voters in the November 3 Senate election. Sullivan has maintained that he entered the race on his own, while Peltola and national Democrats have denied involvement. In Petersburg, a fishing community of roughly 3,000 people accessible by plane or boat, dozens of residents told CBS they had received no campaign literature or seen signs promoting Sullivan since he announced his bid in the spring. The network’s crew also found no visible campaign activity, including outside his home along the community’s main coastal road. Andrew Worhatch, a local fisherman, questioned whether Sullivan was making a serious effort to win. “I don’t think it’s a serious candidacy. I haven’t seen a platform,” he told CBS. Sullivan worked in the local school district for nearly two decades, teaching music and fourth and fifth grade before retiring in 2021, according to the district. Some residents defended him. Keely Hankins told CBS that she trusted Sullivan because she knew his family and his work with students. She also argued that voters could distinguish the candidates by reading their names and the incumbent designation on the ballot. Others were less sympathetic. “It’s just embarrassing to think that we, a small fishing village, have such a hoaxer,” resident Darla Kowalski told the network. The alleged recruitment effort involved Peltola’s campaign lawyers and senior Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aides, according to the Times. Former campaign manager Elisa Rios told the newspaper that Peltola knew about the effort, although she did not participate directly. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) subsequently ordered the state Department of Public Safety to examine whether the alleged scheme broke state law and whether criminal charges or civil proceedings were warranted. Federal prosecutors are conducting a separate criminal investigation into how Sullivan entered the race. The inquiry had been underway for months and gained urgency after the Times published its findings. Investigators were preparing to preserve communications and issue grand jury subpoenas, with the investigation expected to continue beyond Election Day.