Dunleavy says signing off on a Peltola Senate win depends on his investigation

Gov. Mike Dunleavy wouldn't commit Thursday to certifying Democrat Mary Peltola's election to the U.S. Senate if she wins Alaska's race, saying the state investigation he ordered this week "may in fact impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate."

Asked by NewsNation whether he would certify the election if Peltola won while still under investigation, he said the state would investigate and "follow the law."

"If we conclude that ... there were things that should not have happened ... that are illegal, we will act on that," he said in the interview.

That would be a "discussion with obviously the head of the U.S. Senate," he said. "But whether we send something down or not, we won't be able to determine that until we have enough information to make that decision."

When the interviewer noted he hadn't said yes, Dunleavy said, "The people need to hear me say yes, that we're going to ensure that we aren't going to send a scam to Washington."

"If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens," he said. Asked whether that was a real possibility, he said, "Depending upon the outcomes of this investigation. Yes."

Peltola's campaign told Axios that Dunleavy was threatening to overrule Alaska voters.

Under Alaska law, the governor doesn't certify the state's result. Once the ballot-counting review is done, elections director Carol Beecher "shall certify" the person with the most votes and issue a certificate of election, the statute says, with no exception for an investigation. The director is appointed by and acts for Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who supervises the Division of Elections.

Federal law then makes it the governor's duty to certify a senator's election under the state seal, with the lieutenant governor, Alaska's equivalent of a secretary of state, countersigning.

A refusal to sign could delay or complicate seating the winner. But the Constitution makes the Senate the judge of its own members' elections, and it has seated senators before their credentials arrived, by unanimous consent. Neither the federal certification statutes nor Senate Rule II provides an automatic way to replace the governor's credential with the director's certificate.

Dunleavy ordered the Department of Public Safety on Wednesday to investigate whether an effort to recruit Senate candidates broke state law. The New York Times reported that Peltola aides worked with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee officials to recruit spoiler candidates, including Daniel J. Sullivan of Petersburg, who shares Sen. Dan Sullivan's name.

Peltola's campaign and the DSCC deny it, and Daniel J. Sullivan has said he entered the race on his own. No court has found that the reported recruitment broke the law.

Beecher tried to keep Daniel J. Sullivan off the ballot in June, and the courts put him back on. Dunleavy wrote Wednesday that the Times' reporting "substantially supports the Division's findings."

Separately, the Justice Department has sued to hold up certification under certain conditions if Sen. Sullivan loses. Lawyers for Beecher and the state's election boards asked a federal judge this week to throw out that suit, arguing the federal government "lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate."

The Division of Elections aims to certify the Nov. 3 election by Nov. 25. Dunleavy's term ends Dec. 7. The new Senate term begins Jan. 3.