Trump previews trip to Alaska to campaign for Dan Sullivan, ripping into the other Dan Sullivan

Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he expects to travel to Alaska one month before the Nov. 3 election as Sullivan remains in a statistical tie with Democratic nominee Mary Peltola, according to RealClearPolitics‘s polling average.Sullivan and Peltola are also competing against another Republican, a teacher named Dan J. Sullivan, thanks to the state’s complicated electoral system. The fourth candidate, as of Tuesday, now includes another Republican, Gerald Heikes, after Democrat David Leslie withdrew from the race. “I’ll go out there to fight for him,” Trump said when asked if he anticipated going to Alaska for the incumbent senator.Trump criticized Alaska’s ranked choice voting system as “a crooked form of voting,” describing it as “totally dishonest.” The president further alleged that Democrats were playing election games with Dan J. Sullivan, the teacher, acting as a spoiler, though Peltola and other Democrats have denied any involvement.“He hasn’t voted for years,” Trump said of the teacher. “A pretty nonpolitical person, I guess, but never had any thought of running, all of a sudden, he’s running for the Senate in Alaska. His name is Dan Sullivan. They have the same name, and that guy got 2.5% in the recent primary.”“It’s a disgrace,” he added. “They went to the court, and the court made it a little bit easier. They put an initial or something on the [ballot], but it’s very unfair. I will go to Alaska to help Dan Sullivan get elected.”Trump, too, compared the closeness of the race to the unexpected tightness of the contest between his pick for Senate in Texas, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Democratic nominee James Talarico.Paxton and Talarico are similarly in a statistical tie in Texas, a traditional Republican stronghold.But Trump defended the closeness in Alaska, citing the “phony Dan Sullivan” who “was put up by the Democrats” and his record of assisting the likes of Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) and Republican nominee for Oklahoma governor, Mike Mazzei.GOP ANXIETY GROWS THAT TRUMP MIDTERM MONEY WILL BE SPENT TOO LATE — OR NOT AT ALL“So I will go to Alaska to make sure that a great senator gets reelected,” the president said. “I’m going to be going the last 30 days before the election. I’ll be making a lot of stops. You see how I helped Darline. You see how I helped the governor, the future governor of Oklahoma. He was way behind and I endorsed him, and I did tele town halls for him, and he ended up winning against somebody that seemed to have an insurmountable lead. He’s great.”He added, “I’m going to be campaigning for numerous people, both congressmen, a few governors. I love the governors, but we’re interested in the Senate and we’re interested in the House.”