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Next week’s U.S. Senate election in Alaska could come down to one letter. Under the state’s unique balloting system, three candidates are running to unseat Sen. Dan S. Sullivan: Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola, a bandana-wearing gadfly named Gerald Heikes, and … another Dan Sullivan. That other Dan Sullivan, whose middle initial is J, is a retired teacher who has previously voted Democrat, so his presence in the race quickly attracted suspicion. On Wednesday, the New York Times officially linked Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy to Democrats, reporting that Peltola aides helped recruit him in a bid to siphon votes from the incumbent Republican.

The subterfuge appears to be a blatant case of Democrats stooping to dirty tricks in a competitive race that will help decide which party controls the Senate. Yet as seamy as those tactics may be, they still don’t justify the Trump administration’s attempts to use the power of the federal government to help the original Dan Sullivan (the one who’s already a Republican senator, that is) win reelection. So like a salmon swimming up an icy Alaskan stream, let’s dive in.

What exactly did the Times report? 

Last year, Peltola allies started looking for Alaskans named Dan Sullivan who might be open to running for Senate. The reported scheme, referred to internally as “the ballot composition project,” involved a Democratic operative named Jerid Kurtz clandestinely meeting with potential contenders. But Kurtz’s skullduggery appears to have paid off. In the small fishing village of Petersburg, he found Dan J. Sullivan, who apparently agreed to run if it would help Peltola win. (Dan J. Sullivan has previously denied any associations with the Peltola campaign, which in........

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