Watchdog files FEC complaint against Alaska’s ‘Decoy’ Dan U.S. Senate candidate

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – Watchdog organization Americans for Public Trust filed an FEC complaint against Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Daniel J. Sullivan, alleging that the political figure engaged in  “coordinated communications” with liberal dark money group the 907 Initiative to attack his opponent and the incumbent, also named Daniel Sullivan.

Executive director of Americans for Public Trust Caitlin Sutherland told The Center Square: “It’s unsurprising that a person who is staking his entire candidacy on misleading voters is flouting campaign finance laws in an attempt to give himself an upper hand.

“Coordinating with outside groups is obviously illegal and 907 Initiative’s efforts result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in prohibited, excessive, and reported campaign contributions,” Sutherland said.

“‘Decoy’ Dan’s campaign should be immediately investigated for this apparent violation,” Sutherland said.

According to Americans for Public Trust’s complaint, the “coordinated communications period” between Daniel J. Sullivan, his campaign committee, and the 907 Initiative started on May 20, with Alaska’s primary election being held on Aug. 18.

Americans for Public Trust’s complaint said that Daniel J. Sullivan for Senate used the services of Amber Lee Strategies for “Website Services and Campaign and Digital Consulting” incurring a debt of $4,380.41 from May 29, 2026, to July 29, 2026.

Owner and operator of Amber Lee Strategies, Amber Lee “worked for Daniel J. Sullivan’s principal campaign committee at the very same time that she held a leadership role at an outside group (907 Institute) that was making advocacy expenditures criticizing Mr. Sullivan’s U.S. Senate campaign opponent,” the complaint said.

The complaint says Amber Lee is also a director and secretary of the 907 Initiative, a group that spent almost $1.5 million in the current election cycle opposing Sullivan’s nearly identically named political opponent and incumbent U.S. Senator Sullivan.

Further, the 907 Initiative spent over half a million dollars on “negative communications featuring the incumbent Senator in the 90 days leading up to the August 18, 2026 primary election.”

Amber Lee also helped Daniel J. Sullivan file to run, according to the New York Times, with Sullivan originally filing as Dan S. Sullivan – using his opponent’s middle initial.

Following public scrutiny, it was reported that Amber Lee was “no longer involved” in Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign, according to Americans for Public Trust.

“Outside of Ms. Lee improperly serving two roles – simultaneously being an agent of the campaign and an agent of an outside liberal dark money group – her role in orchestrating Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign operation has received public scrutiny for obvious reasons,” the complaint said.

“Ms. Lee helped get a ‘Daniel Sullivan’ on the ballot – the very same name of the incumbent U.S. Senator of Alaska – which can be construed as a clear effort to act as a decoy,” the complaint said.

Additionally, Amber Lee was paid for “website services and digital consulting” and her client Daniel J. Sullvian’s “‘logo and color palette are nearly identical’” to incumbent U.S. Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan,” the complaint said.

“The pop-up, cavalier, and copy-cat nature of Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign operation initially led to his removal from the ballot,” the complaint said, although this decision was later invalidated.

Nevertheless, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation to determine if Daniel J. Sullivan “entering the race was only to ‘confuse voters and steal votes from the incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan,’” the complaint said.

When reached, the 907 Initiative told The Center Square: “907 Initiative is in full compliance with applicable campaign finance laws, including federal coordination rules.”

“Allegations to the otherwise are solely intended to distract from Senator Sullivan's record of voting with DC, at the expense of Alaskans,” the Initiative said.

When Daniel J. Sullivan was reached for comment, The Center Square received an automated out of office reply. Amber Lee did not respond.