DOJ reportedly investigating Alaska's two-Sullivans Senate race

Federal and state investigators are reportedly looking into Alaska's "two Dan Sullivans" Senate race — an inquiry that, if accurate, would put the federal government's investigative power squarely inside a state election fight.

ABC News and NBC News reported this week, citing anonymous sources, that the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office for Alaska, and the Alaska attorney general are examining whether anyone conspired to place a second, same-named candidate on the ballot to confuse voters and tilt the race.

The reporting describes the inquiry as looking at possible wire fraud or conspiracy to deprive voters of a fair election. Alaska News has not independently confirmed the reports, and the offices that would run such an investigation declined to comment or did not respond.

No one has been charged, and it isn't clear anyone will be.

What makes the reported inquiry striking is its target: a candidacy the Alaska Supreme Court just affirmed is entirely lawful. The court ruled last week that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired Petersburg teacher, has every right to run against incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, rejecting the state's attempt to remove him. That a legal candidacy could now draw federal criminal scrutiny raises a real question — one critics of such probes are quick to press — about whether the Justice Department's power is being aimed at what is, at bottom, a partisan dispute over a ballot.

Those who defend the inquiry would counter that if voters were deliberately deceived, investigators have reason to look. No public evidence yet resolves which it is.