Voters queued early on Monday in near-freezing temperatures across Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, as a political scandal involving an alleged “decoy candidate” dominated headlines across the United States without dampening turnout in a crucial Senate contest.
Democratic challenger Mary Peltola is locked in a tight race against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, which could determine control of the US Senate. Peltola is accused of recruiting another candidate named Dan Sullivan to run in the election to confuse voters and divert votes from the sitting senator. First reported by The New York Times, the revelations sent shockwaves through political circles, but local residents braving the cold appeared largely unfazed, reports AFP.
Dale Brown, a 25-year-old carpenter and independent voter, dismissed the controversy, asking, “Who cares?” While describing the alleged decoy strategy as “immoral”, Brown said “it’s not illegal technically”. He also recalled that Republicans had used similar ghost-candidate tactics in Florida’s 2020 Senate race.
Expressing disillusionment with modern political discourse, Brown said American politics had become an “absolute dog-and-pony show of lies”, with moral conscience seemingly absent. Despite the controversy, he voted for the Democrats, citing deep frustration over rising inflation under President Donald Trump.
With the closely contested race threatening the Republican Party’s Senate majority, Trump has cried foul and sought to challenge the election results in advance through legal action. A federal judge rejected his legal bid on Sunday, but pressure from his administration has continued. Meanwhile, federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the matter but have declined to explain its legal basis.
In Anchorage, the intensity of the campaign is evident across residential neighbourhoods, where rival campaign signs line neighbours’ fences.
At a shopping centre overlooking snow-capped mountains, Republican voter Rae Hart, a 37-year-old criminal investigator, acknowledged that having two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot could be “confusing potentially”. However, Hart said few voters appeared to have been misled, noting that people in the queue were reminding one another to “be sure to vote for the right Dan Sullivan”.
Alaskans said they had been inundated with flyers, advertisements and mailings for weeks ahead of the high-stakes election.
Despite the deluge of campaign material, the candidates are clearly distinguishable on the printed ballot. Senator Dan Sullivan is identified as a “registered Republican” and “incumbent”, while Daniel J Sullivan Jr, whom Trump dubbed the “fake” Sullivan, is listed without any political affiliation.
Poll workers had been briefed in advance to answer questions and clarify the distinction. An anonymous polling place volunteer said voters appeared well aware of the difference.
Luke Clement, a 47-year-old airline pilot, agreed that it was “pretty clear on the ballot who is who”. However, he regretted that the campaign had descended into bitter “mudslinging” instead of addressing pressing economic issues.
He highlighted persistent inflation, which he said had been fuelled by Trump’s war on Iran. The impact is particularly severe in Alaska, where the state’s geographical isolation means almost everything has to be shipped in, making prices heavily dependent on fuel costs.
Elsewhere in polling queues, voters discussed environmental and resource concerns, including declining salmon populations linked to overfishing and climate change, as well as how extensively the state’s vast oil reserves should be exploited.
Zara Oakley, a 41-year-old surgical technologist, described the scandal as “distractive tactics” intended to divert voters’ attention from critical issues.
Although Alaska is traditionally considered a conservative stronghold, widespread public discontent with Trump has left Peltola neck and neck with the Republican incumbent in opinion polls.
Oakley said she was unsurprised by Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on the election outcome, noting that he had pursued similar actions in several other US states.
Accusing the president of seeking to “destroy democracy”, she said: “I don’t think it has anything to do with what is principled or what’s right or what’s just”.
