By A conservative watchdog is accusing Alaska Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan — the retired teacher dubbed “Decoy Dan” for sharing a name with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan — of illegally coordinating with a liberal outside group that has spent heavily attacking the incumbent.
Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Democratic strategist Amber Lee worked with Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign while simultaneously serving on the board of the 907 Initiative, an Alaska-based nonprofit that has spent roughly $1.5 million on advertisements targeting Sen. Sullivan, according to a report by The New York Post.
“It is absolutely a violation of federal election law for someone to wear two hats,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, said. “You can’t both work for the campaign and work for the outside group that’s running millions of dollars in advertisements that’s benefiting the campaign that you’re working for.”
According to the complaint, about $575,000 of the 907 Initiative’s spending against Sen. Sullivan came during the final 90 days of the primary campaign after Dan J. Sullivan entered the race on May 29. The day before Sullivan officially filed, the organization launched an ad titled “Stop Raising Costs” targeting the incumbent. At the time, Sullivan’s campaign owed Amber Lee Strategies $4,380.41.
So much for “defending democracy.”
“Amber Lee Strategies’ work for the Daniel J. Sullivan campaign — and her concurrent leadership position as a board member of 907 Initiative whilst it spent significant sums of money on ads targeting her client’s primary opponent — is the third and final prong to establish coordination,” the complaint said. It continued: “In fact, Ms. Lee helped Daniel J. Sullivan file to run and ‘helped author some of Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign materials’ at a time when her 907 Initiative was already reserving advertisements attacking his opponent.”
Lee’s involvement with the campaign was previously detailed in news reports, which found that metadata connected her to Sullivan’s campaign materials. Sullivan later said the two were no longer working together. His candidacy has separately drawn federal scrutiny over allegations that it was designed to confuse voters and damage the incumbent, though no charges have been announced.
“Sometimes when individuals do engage in schemes, it can be a little bit difficult to see what is happening. This is just a very clear example of coordination,” Sutherland said.
The allegations add another layer to an already unusual candidacy. Dan J. Sullivan registered as a Republican shortly before entering the race despite having supported Democratic presidential nominees in the previous three elections. Alaska election officials initially removed him from the ballot after questioning whether he was mounting a good-faith candidacy, citing, among other things, similarities between his campaign website and the incumbent senator’s and confusion involving the candidates’ middle initials. Courts later restored Sullivan to the ballot, and he advanced through Alaska’s top-four primary.
The 907 Initiative rejected the coordination allegation.
“This allegation is patently false,” executive director Aubrey Wieber said. “907 Initiative has never employed or paid Amber Lee. Amber Lee is a board member of 907 Initiative. The fact that Americans for Public Trust can’t decipher the difference between those two tells you all you need to know.”
Wieber added: “907 Initiative had no involvement with any work between Dan J. Sullivan and Amber Lee. I found out about the connection by reading the news.”
Dan J. Sullivan has described himself as a moderate Republican, though he told the New York Times that he voted for Democratic presidential candidates in each of the past three elections, attended a “No Kings” protest and supported Democrat Mary Peltola in both of her congressional campaigns.
The controversy comes as Alaska emerges as one of the most closely watched Senate contests of the midterms. Peltola and Sen. Sullivan both advanced from the Aug. 18 top-four primary and the polls showing a tight race.
ALASKA POLL – Senate (RCV Final Round)
🟦 Mary Peltola: 50.6%
🟥 Dan Sullivan: 49.4%June poll – Peltola +5
——
Net Favs
Peltola: +5.4
Sullivan: -11
Trump: -16@The_Real_ASR (A) | 8/20-23 | 1,495 LV pic.twitter.com/0rZ7ifMNhG— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 2, 2026
Americans for Public Trust is asking the FEC to investigate whether Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign and the 907 Initiative violated federal election law by coordinating through Lee.
This isn’t the first time that Democrats in Alaska have tried to bamboozle voters there.
Dems at it again in Alaska. People forget about the scandalous misconduct revelations after the sham Ted Stevens prosecution, which is how they won a Senate seat up there in ‘08. The judge called it the worst misconduct he’d ever seen. But by that point, the election was over. https://t.co/kkiOmN0Zh0
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 8, 2026
They just hope they can stall until after the election again.
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