Sen. Tim Scott declined to say whether he would accept the results of the Alaska Senate race if Democrat Mary Pertola wins the battleground seat. It comes after the New York Times published an explosive report about Democrats’ alleged attempts to recruit another Dan Sullivan to run.
Scott was asked in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he would accept the election results if Pertola was certified as winning the Senate seat. Scott did not answer the question directly.
“Dan Sullivan is going to win, Kristen,” he responded to host Kristen Welker. “You know, that’s the only thing I’m going to tell you, because it’s the truth.”
Scott went on to criticize Democrats’ alleged efforts to recruit a candidate with the same name as the current Republican president, sparking controversy after The New York Times reported last week.
“I can tell you for a fact that you cannot trust Mary Pertola’s campaign and the collusion between her campaign and the DSCC,” Scott said. He also serves as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Republican counterpart to the DSCC.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Democrats are allegedly trying to recruit a candidate with the same name as current Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The efforts allegedly involved members of Pertola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the Senate, the report said.
After the report was released, the DSCC said in a statement that it had “nothing to do with Dan J. Sullivan.” Pertola also said, “She knows nothing about the other candidates on the ballot other than me and the current candidate.”
When asked a second time if he would accept the election results, Scott dodged the question.
“Number one, Dan Sullivan, the real Dan Sullivan, is going to win,” Scott said. “Second, it’s actually a federal crime to confuse voters.”
NBC News previously reported that the people recruiting challenger Dan Sullivan were not necessarily breaking the law.
Pertola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, was interviewed by The New York Times but later said she withdrew “all statements regarding the 2026 Alaska Senate race.”
The Times report comes after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in Alaska seeking to block the certification of Senate election results if incumbent Sen. Sullivan loses the race. The Justice Department noted that voters may be confused by the appearance of another candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
After the New York Times report, President Donald Trump said both Pertola and challenger Sullivan should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.
On Thursday, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said he was ordering a state investigation to determine whether the alleged “plan violated Alaska law and whether criminal charges or civil litigation are warranted.”