WRAPUP 2-Alaska dispute threatening to complicate fight for US Senate control

Alaska’s Republican governor has ordered a state investigation of allegations in a New York ‌Times ​report that Democrats recruited spoiler candidates in the state’s US Senate race, raising the prospect of a messy fight over a contest that could determine Senate control in next Tuesday's midterm elections. Alaska is one of about 10 highly competitive races that will decide control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Democrats need a net gain of four seats, and a post-election dispute in Alaska could leave control of the chamber ‌unclear for weeks.

Governor Mike Dunleavy said on Wednesday that the probe would examine whether any laws were broken, posting on X that "the evidence will determine what happens next," hours after the Times reported that aides to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola worked to recruit two candidates who could siphon votes from incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday, "It's hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run. Frankly, I don't know how you can allow somebody like that to run. It's so unfair.”

Trump for years has sowed doubts about the fairness of US elections and even ‌prior to the Times report had pushed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit seeking to preemptively block Alaska from certifying Peltola, a former congresswoman, if she were to win the election. The Times reported on Wednesday that Peltola aides worked with campaign lawyers and staff at ‌the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit two candidates who could siphon votes from the incumbent Republican Sullivan, including a retired teacher also named Dan Sullivan who is on the ballot. Peltola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, told the Times that Peltola was aware of the effort.

Peltola’s campaign said it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The DSCC also denied involvement and accused Republicans of propping up candidates of their own in other races. 'CULTURE OF DECEPTION'

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Thursday lambasted what he called the "crazy tactics" of Democrats in Alaska, saying in an interview with Fox News that "we hope it doesn't confuse voters, but that's exactly what the Democrats tried to do here. They ⁠got caught red-handed." US ​Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, called for Peltola to be honest.

"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," she posted on X. Jessica Levinson, a professor who specializes in election law ⁠at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that as long as Daniel J. Sullivan, the challenger to the incumbent, didn’t conceal financial support, his campaign likely didn’t break any laws and political parties are allowed to mislead the public.

Policing such behavior would open the door to the government investigating why candidates choose to run ​and why voters support them, she said. "To the extent that people are uncomfortable with two Sullivans, I would offer you're probably going to be uncomfortable with a really high level of government intrusion into our elections as well." Rex VanMiddlesworth, an executive board member of ⁠Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan group that works to build trust in US elections, said on a call with reporters that nothing would bar the second Sullivan from the ballot or disqualify Peltola. He called the Justice Department’s lawsuit “frivolous even by current DOJ standards,” saying it cites no provision of law.

TRUMP IN SOUTH CAROLINA, HARRIS IN GEORGIA Trump held a rally in Rock ⁠Hill, ​South Carolina, on Thursday, his second visit in two weeks to a state where opinion polls show an unexpectedly close race between Republican Senator Darline Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews. A few protesters were escorted out as Trump spoke from the stage.

Speaking about the hotly contested Michigan Senate race, where progressive Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed holds a small lead in most polls over Republican Mike Rogers, Trump continued his identity-based attacks on El-Sayed, a Muslim, by saying at the rally that "if you're Black or if you're Jewish, and if you vote for Abdul, you're crazy." With control of ⁠the Senate at stake, both parties are deploying their biggest names in the closing days of the campaign, with Trump stumping for Republicans and former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigning for Democrats in competitive races.

Harris stumped in Macon, Georgia, at a get-out-the-vote effort. ⁠Democrats are aiming to see Senator Jon Ossoff, who leads in polling, reelected, ⁠and hope that Keisha Lance Bottoms, locked in a tight race, can become the first woman elected as governor in the state. Trump’s approval rating stood at 32% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday, near a record low, as Americans sour on the high cost of living and the war with Iran.

Some 41.4 million Americans had already voted as of Thursday morning, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. A total ‌of 45.9 million voted early in the 2022 ‌midterms.