Rep. Jamie Raskin pushed back on Sunday against allegations that staff for Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola sought duplicate candidates to confuse voters in Alaska, characterizing such a tactic as “stupid politics” that no serious political actor would pursue.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker questioned Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, about a report in The New York Times alleging that senior aides to Peltola instructed a staffer to “find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can.”
The alleged effort would have targeted the name of the state’s Republican incumbent. While The Times reported that Peltola’s former campaign manager stated the congresswoman was “definitely aware” of the discussions, that former manager subsequently retracted the statement. Both Peltola and her campaign have firmly denied any involvement.
When asked whether recruiting same-name candidates crosses an ethical line, Raskin rejected the premise that Peltola participated in any such scheme.
“I’m sure I would never do it. It’s stupid politics. Nobody would do that, and Mary Peltola has said she had nothing to do with it,” Raskin said.
Raskin further noted that ballot name overlaps occur routinely across the country and pointed out that Alaska already distinguishes incumbents on its ballots.
“Look, that’s the law across America. There are people who have the same name who are running in all 50 states. That happens all over the place,” Raskin said. “And nowhere is there a law which says, ‘If you have the same name as somebody who got on the ballot first, you can’t get on the ballot.’ Now, there might be a way of cleaning that up, but I think Alaska has done that. They identified the incumbent as the Republican incumbent. It could not be clearer.”
The scrutiny surrounding the Alaska situation emerges as national Democrats simultaneously navigate friction on other fronts, including a separate intraparty dispute within the House.
Late last month, 175 House Democrats signed a letter condemning an October 12 federal search of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington home, characterizing the probe into her family’s past immigration records as politically motivated.
However, nearly 40 Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, declined to add their signatures, exposing significant divisions over how the caucus should respond to law enforcement actions involving its own members.
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