The plot thickens:
asserted
plot → thicken → ?
Last night, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said he would launch an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola.
asserted
he → say → Peltola
This is because of late-breaking allegations that Peltola's staffers tried to recruit candidates to run in the Senate race that could confuse voters into not voting for her opponent.
uncertain
that → break → opponent
"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," reported The New York Times yesterday.
asserted
Times → eye → Alaska
And if 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
A retired teacher named Dan J. Sullivan got on the ballot and started running for Senate.
asserted
teacher → name → Senate
Peltola's campaign denied allegations that they were involved in getting Sullivan on the ballot.
asserted
they → deny → ballot
The Reason Roundup Newsletter by Liz Wolfe Liz and Reason help you make sense of the day's news every morning.
asserted
you → help → news
It's kind of a nasty tactic designed to confuse voters into submission.
asserted
It → design → submission
And the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the certification of election results based on the Sullivan hijinks, seemingly because the issue has garnered President Donald Trump's attention.
asserted
issue → file → attention
Yesterday, Trump said not only that Peltola should leave the race, but also that she should be criminally prosecuted.
asserted
she → say → race
It's possible the behavior Peltola engaged in isn't actually illegal, to which Attorney General Todd Blanche countered: "It should be!"
asserted
It → engage → which
This trick has been tried before.
asserted
trick → try → ?
In 1946, John F. Kennedy was running in a crowded Democratic primary for Massachusetts' 11th Congressional District.
asserted
Kennedy → run → District
So a second Joseph Russo—a janitor—mysteriously appeared on the ballot.
asserted
Russo → appear → ballot
Kennedy family patriarch Joe Kennedy is widely believed to have combed the voter rolls to find him.
asserted
Kennedy → believe → him
In that case, the hijinks were unnecessary: JFK won with about 42 percent of the vote, and the real Russo got about 11 percent.
asserted
Russo → win → percent
Decoy Russo only got 799 votes.
asserted
Russo → get → votes
I think the candidates in tight races who are engaging in desperate chicanery—think not just Peltola, but also Vivek Ramaswamy's use of Amy Acton's mother in a nasty ad—might overestimate voters' tolerance of such antics, especially in a midterm cycle that's been so characterized by cost-of-living issues.
uncertain
that → think → issues
A Brooklyn woman, Halima Salman, was apparently training with ISIS.
asserted
woman → train → ISIS
Salman, an American citizen, was brought to Syria by her father when she was a teenager and somehow developed close ties to the terrorist group.
asserted
she → bring → group
"Salman, who faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing, is believed to be the first woman accused of being an ISIS member to stand trial in federal court," reports The New York Times.
asserted
Times → face → court
(There are a lot of jokes I could make here, most of which would not be so tasteful, so I'll let our esteemed commenters handle it.)
uncertain
commenters → be → it
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered Tuesday's Israeli election with a governing majority and is now on course to exit with something less," reports the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal.
asserted
board → enter → Journal
"That's one way to understand the result, but it was also widely anticipated.
asserted
it → understand → result
The surprising news is the opposition's failure to come out ahead of Mr. Netanyahu.
asserted
news → come → Netanyahu
He may not have won, but the opposition lost.…
uncertain
opposition → win → ?
At present count Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party is in first place, projected to win 26 or 27 seats in Israel's 120-seat Knesset.
asserted
party → project → Knesset
The opposition Yashar party of former military chief Gadi Eisenkot lags at 21 seats."
asserted
party → lag → seats
"Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Wednesday left the central bank on track to raise interest rates again this year, even as he stuck to his refusal to offer any explicit guidance on the future path of policy," reports Bloomberg.
asserted
Bloomberg → leave → policy
"Operating within his self-imposed communication boundaries, Warsh used his assessment of a strong economy and warnings over persistent inflation to signal the Fed's job is not yet done.
asserted
job → operate → inflation
The message reinforced expectations that officials will raise borrowing costs in December—after holding them steady Wednesday—with the potential for another increase in early 2027."
asserted
officials → reinforce → 2027
- Allie Beth Stuckey is politically burnt out, says Bloomberg.
asserted
Bloomberg → burn → ?
- The differences between sex realism and gender realism, and what sex-realist feminists are actually fighting for.
asserted
feminists → fight → what
The Aporia
