Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is ordering an investigation into an effort to recruit candidates for the state's Senate race, including one with the same name as the incumbent Republican senator, following a New York Times report on the matter.

In a statement, Dunleavy said the report revealed new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska's elections by recruiting candidates he said were intended to confuse voters and misdirect their votes.

The Alaska Division of Elections investigated similar concerns in June, Dunleavy said, adding that the new reporting substantially supported the division's findings.