Dem strategist shrugs off Alaska ballot scandal on MS NOW, insists 'this stuff happens all the time'

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Cite

Wulfsohn, J. (2026, October 29). Dem strategist shrugs off Alaska ballot scandal on MS NOW, insists 'this stuff happens all the time'. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/dem-strategist-shrugs-off-alaska-ballot-scandal-ms-now-insists-stuff-happens-all-time

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Fox News · collected 2026-10-29 · by Joseph Wulfsohn

Quick Summary

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod appeared on MS NOW to discuss a New York Times report alleging that Democratic operatives attempted to influence Alaska's Senate race by recruiting a man named Dan Sullivan as a spoiler candidate against incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan. Elrod downplayed the scandal, comparing it to Republican support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential bid and asserting that such tactics occur frequently in political campaigns. The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Alaska to block certification of election results if the outcome could be affected by votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., another candidate on the ballot.
Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.30, but none of the 2 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 113627: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-29

Story

📰 Trump Demands Ballot Changes Over Decoy Dan Scheme
Politics · 15 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 4 of 19 claims Outlet record 67/100
ABC News (US)
Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 70/100
Fox News
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 70/100
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles describe different aspects related to the election but do not report on the exact same incident.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 67/100
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
3 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
70/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
15
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-29 · how these are computed

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Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 5816 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Joseph Wulfsohn
31 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 RFK Jr., when he ran against Joe Biden, Republicans propped him up, a lot of Trump donors were giving him money because they thought he would dig into some of Biden's supporters.
🔮 The illegal alien claimed he was a HOMOSEXUAL in order to try and dodge deportation to Mali," ICE posted on X. Fox News exclusively obtained Diawara’s 2009 asylum application in which he declared that he needed to remain in America because he was a gay man who could be killed if sent back to his native country.
🔮 I wanted to be as loud about the win as possible so that other journalists will not be afraid to speak the truth."
🔮 "You’re not supposed to do stories that might make Democrats look bad."
🔮 "Early in 2027, she will scale back her CNN International show, ‘Amanpour,’ to once a week.
🔮 They have a connotation of being educational, but even career documentarians will tell you that all they're doing is telling a story just like any other film.
🔮 There's just something inherently likable about him that will have audiences wanting to root for him, which works in this underdog, truly David vs. Goliath story.
🔮 " "She probably could have been better than Karine Jean-Pierre if she had more time to prepare.
🔮 So the idea that he would be tarred and feathered for a Muslim Brotherhood connection that frankly A. is not verified, and B., does not actually say anything about how he was raised here in Michigan."
🔮 An FBI official would neither confirm nor deny whether leadership had conducted such an operation but said the two leakers involved would "likely" be identified as a result.
Also by Joseph Wulfsohn
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 31 articles by Joseph Wulfsohn →

Topics

Alaska Democratic Republican Senate Times

Subjects

Alaska GPE · 7× Peltola PERSON · 5× Senate ORG · 5× Dan Sullivan PERSON · 4× Democratic NORP · 4× Republican NORP · 4× Times ORG · 4× Elrod PERSON · 3× Joe Biden PERSON · 2× Mary Peltola PERSON · 2×

Narrative

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod chalked up Wednesday's revelations about an alleged Democratic scheme to influence Alaska's Senate race as something that "happens all the time," comparing it to Republican support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential bid against then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 election cycle.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29
🔮 RFK Jr., when he ran against Joe Biden, Republicans propped him up, a lot of Trump donors were giving him money because they thought he would dig into some of Biden's supporters.

Claims (24 extracted, 3 hedged)

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod chalked up Wednesday's revelations about an alleged Democratic scheme to influence Alaska's Senate race as something that "happens all the time," comparing it to Republican support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential bid against then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 election cycle. asserted
that → chalk → cycle
The New York Times published a bombshell report alleging that Democratic operatives recruited a man named Dan Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, potentially aiding his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Mary Peltola. asserted
operatives → publish → opponent
Appearing on an MS NOW panel, Elrod was quick to shrug off the controversy. asserted
Elrod → appear → controversy
"Some of this stuff happens all the time," Elrod reacted. asserted
Elrod → happen → stuff
"Let's not forget that ... asserted
's → let → that
RFK Jr., when he ran against Joe Biden, Republicans propped him up, a lot of Trump donors were giving him money because they thought he would dig into some of Biden's supporters. asserted
he → run → supporters
And then he ran as an independent. asserted
he → run → independent
They thought he would draw away supporters from Biden. asserted
he → think → Biden
It actually had the opposite effect. asserted
It → have → effect
"The bottom line is this stuff happens all the time. asserted
stuff → happen → ?
There are tactics that both campaigns can use. ... asserted
campaigns → be → that
It is very clear, as you mentioned, who is the incumbent. asserted
who → mention → ?
So, if you're a Republican or any voter in Alaska, and you want to support the incumbent, you know who you're voting for," Elrod added noting she hadn't read the Times report. asserted
she → want → report
MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander said the "funny business" involving Democrats in Alaska was "not illegal" and pointed out that the Republican senator is listed as "incumbent" on the ballot, which he argued undermined the Trump administration's concerns about voter confusion. asserted
he → say → confusion
Republicans have long been suspicious about the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who is among four Senate candidates listed on Alaska's rank-choice ballot. asserted
who → retire → ballot
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent senator loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome. uncertain
votes → file → outcome
"In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can," the Times began its report Wednesday. asserted
Times → eye → report
The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state. ... asserted
staffer → comply → state
[I]f the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot. uncertain
confusion → track → ballot
The plan worked." asserted
plan → work → ?
According to Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, Peltola was not directly involved in the scheme but was "definitely aware." uncertain
Peltola → accord → scheme
"The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy," the Times wrote. asserted
Times → deny → candidacy
"But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. asserted
effort → find → Senate
The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory." asserted
group → work → victory
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