In Petersburg, nobody has seen Dan J. Sullivan for weeks.

His rustic home stood dark a day after FBI agents visited friends who donated to his quixotic campaign to unseat the Republican senator with the same first and last name — Dan S. Sullivan. The only display of politics at his home was a yard sign from the League of Women Voters: “Stand Up for Democracy: Vote 2026.”

What may have begun as a ploy to harm the reelection prospects of Sen. Sullivan has taken a serious turn as the Trump administration weighs criminal charges over a campaign tactic known as “ballot stacking,” though it’s not clear what specific laws federal officials believe may have been broken.

Experts have said that such tactics, while distasteful to many, are not new and don’t appear to be unlawful.

“It just seems like such a waste of our taxpayer money,” said Sharon Hunter, a Petersburg resident who, with her husband, donated $1,000 to Dan J. Sullivan, a former elementary school teacher. FBI agents knocked on her door on Saturday, Oct. 31, during a round of interviews with the campaign’s dozen contributors.

“I’m a bit incredulous about their whole angle,” Hunter said, “because they’re targeting a person who’s been a real contributor in this community.”

Multiple Dan J. Sullivan donors who were visited by FBI agents told KFSK public radio in Petersburg that they knew who they were donating to, and that while the interactions were professional, they said the encounters still felt like voter harassment.

Recruiting candidates to draw votes away from an opponent has been part of Alaska’s quirky politics for years. This time around, the state’s open primary and ranked-choice voting systems add another wrinkle.

The tactic has drawn fresh scrutiny as the incumbent Sullivan fights off a serious challenge from Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. representative, in a race that could determine control of the Senate.

Peltola has denied any role in the alleged chicanery as she has sought to distance herself from a New York Times article published last month that linked a group backing the former congresswoman to a Democratic operative trying to recruit decoy candidates.

Dan J. Sullivan’s entry into the race has drawn scrutiny since June, when the Alaska Division of Elections tried to remove him from the primary ballot, determining he had not filed his candidacy as a Republican in “good faith.”

State courts upheld that the Petersburg Sullivan was eligible to appear on the ballot, and determined that no good-faith requirement exists in the U.S. Constitution, state statute or regulations. To avoid any confusion, state officials identify Dan S. Sullivan on the ballot as a Republican and the incumbent.

The Petersburg Sullivan repeatedly said he entered the race on his own accord and had no contact with Peltola’s campaign — “zero, none, zilch,” he told The Associated Press in June. He answered “no” when asked if any Democratic operatives had contacted him to run.

“This is my choice,” he said at the time.

A federal lawsuit brought by the Trump administration to revive efforts to undermine the former teacher’s candidacy — and challenge a potential Peltola win by blocking certification of the election results — was dismissed on Sunday, Nov. 1, by a federal judge. The Justice Department quickly appealed.

AP’s efforts to reach Dan J. Sullivan since The Times article have been unsuccessful. Several of the donors AP interviewed said they have not spoken to him in quite some time.

The senator, meanwhile, is seeking to ride the controversy to a third term.

“My costume is the real Dan Sullivan, not the fake guy,” he quipped to trick-or-treaters Halloween night.

The controversy has thrust Petersburg into the center of a federal investigation and a crush of media attention.

More than a dozen residents said they liked and admired Dan J. Sullivan, calling him a creative teacher who ran an afterschool program, Little Kids Rock, to teach guitar.

At a lively Halloween party at Kito’s Kave bar, a patron poked fun at the surge of interest by dressing up as an FBI agent. Another wore a “Petersburg Election Scandal” prison placard around her neck. The charge: “Being a Registered Voter in Alaska.”

Retired fisherman Ed Wood said he wrote a $1,000 check to the Petersburg Sullivan’s campaign to repay the support Sullivan and his wife gave to a costly, decade-long battle to block the state from logging a forested hillside that sits above Petersburg.

Another donor, retired boat seller Charles Flint, described Sullivan as a “liberal thinker” who sometimes voted for Republicans. Flint said that Dan J. Sullivan never told him why he entered the race.

“He probably viewed himself more as a spoiler than a legitimate long shot,” said Flint, who has a “Mary for U.S. Senate” yard sign supporting the Democrat. “I’m sure he’s probably thinking now, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done this.’”

Friends said they are certain that the Petersburg Sullivan never expected to generate so much attention, let alone from federal law enforcement.

FBI agents have descended on the town in recent days as federal authorities expanded a monthslong criminal probe into allegations that Democratic campaigners sought to recruit candidates to run against the incumbent senator. Most of Dan J.’s donors live in Petersburg and together contributed $7,150. Those questioned said the agents asked them whether they had felt deceived by the lesser-known Sullivan.

Anna Holmes and her husband contributed $500 to the Petersburg Sullivan’s campaign and were surprised when FBI agents showed up Friday night to question them. The agents told the couple they were investigating “campaign finance” violations, Holmes said.

Not everyone in Petersburg defended Sullivan.

Amanda Ohmer said she was shocked when her son’s former teacher entered the Senate race in May as a Republican, three days after Peltola visited Petersburg on a campaign stop. Ohmer said she believed he was a well-known liberal and attended an anti-Trump protest in town.

“You don’t see a Republican at a No Kings protest,” said Ohmer, a bartender at the local Moose Lodge.

She said she supported the federal investigation and is irked by friends who’ve rallied around the Petersburg Sullivan.

“It’s sleazy,” said Ohmer. “Just because Republicans do it, too, doesn’t make it right.”

Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau contributed reporting.