Alaska Republican governor calls for investigation into namesake filing

Wall Street Journal’s Politics newsletter says ‘ballot-stacking’ could tip Tuesday’s election

The Wall Street Journal’s Politics newsletter reported the developments Thursday, describing the late-May filing by Dan J. Sullivan Jr. as “always an eyebrow raiser.” The newsletter described the namesake candidacy as a “ballot-stacking” tactic that could tip the balance of Tuesday’s election, and reported that Alaska’s Republican governor called Wednesday night for an investigation into the matter.

An article in the New York Times on Wednesday suggested that a filing in Alaska’s Senate race was no coincidence after all. The Times alleged that Dan J. Sullivan Jr. — who filed paperwork in late May to try to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan — was, in effect, recruited by staffers for Democratic candidate Mary Peltola as part of a campaign canvassing the state for people with the senator’s name. The Peltola campaign has denied any role in recruiting a spoiler.

President Trump said Wednesday that Peltola should “suffer the Legal and Political consequences” based on the Times story. He called for Peltola to be removed from Tuesday’s ballot as punishment and said she should be prosecuted. The newsletter noted that the Times report does not show that Peltola played a personal role in the recruitment effort.

The Justice Department has already filed a lawsuit over the matter, and Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week, before the Times report appeared, that it was possible a crime was committed in Alaska.

It will be very difficult to know how many voters casting a ballot for Dan J. Sullivan Jr. do so because they actually support him, compared with how many vote for him because they think he is the actual senator, the newsletter said. The ballot will identify Sen. Sullivan as a Republican and the incumbent, the newsletter said, which might help avoid some confusion. Third-party candidates can shake up races, the newsletter said, citing Ross Perot in 1992 and Jill Stein in 2016. Those candidates did not confuse voters, it noted, and their names also were not nearly identical to the names of the candidates they challenged.

The Journal reported that, with the midterms looming, the Justice Department has attempted a frenzy of legal maneuvers to advance President Trump’s demands to prosecute his political foes. People familiar with the matter say the department’s leadership is under pressure to show progress before Election Day on Trump’s priorities.

Elsewhere in the newsletter, third-quarter gross domestic product data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve held rates steady on Wednesday, but two officials sought another increase. President Trump is scheduled Thursday to leave the White House early for Rock Hill, S.C., to hold a midterm rally at 12:30 p.m., host Halloween at the White House at 5:30 p.m., and start a tele-rally at 7 p.m.

The newsletter reported that some Hispanic voters are turning on Trump and putting Texas in play. As Texans head to the polls to decide some of the nation’s most closely watched races, Latino voters could once again play a decisive role, it said. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found 53% of Latino voters picking a Democrat for Congress over a Republican, while 35% chose a Republican.

The newsletter reported that Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei to revive peace negotiations even as President Trump threatens to restart the war after next week’s midterm elections, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.