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New York Times ‘didn’t pull their punches’ on second Dan Sullivan allegations: Sarah Bedford

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Cite

Chase, M. (2026, October 29). New York Times ‘didn’t pull their punches’ on second Dan Sullivan allegations: Sarah Bedford. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4784285/new-york-times-mary-peltola-second-dan-sullivan-sarah-bedford/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Washington Examiner · collected 2026-10-29 · by Mackenzie Chase

Quick Summary

Sarah Bedford, investigations editor at the Washington Examiner, discussed the New York Times report alleging that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign conspired to confuse voters by introducing a second candidate named Dan Sullivan. On The Hugh Hewitt Show, Bedford stated that while such allegations were suspected by many Republicans, the Times' reporting was still shocking for its detail and confirmation of suspicions.
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

Story summary

As of October 29, 2026, Mary Peltola's Democratic campaign and senior officials from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) are under investigation by the DOJ for allegedly recruiting a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, to confuse voters in Alaska's Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The New York Times reported that this effort, which included finding individuals with the name "Dan Sullivan," aimed to sow confusion among Alaskan voters. President Donald Trump has called for Alaska to change its ballot due to this situation, deeming it unfair. Republican Governor David Becker and Senator Lisa Murkowski have also expressed concerns over what they describe as a ballot-stacking scheme, while election law experts are weighing in on the legality of having two candidates with similar names on the same ballot.

Written for “Alaska Senate Race Ballot Controversy” on 2026-10-29, grounded in this article and the 35 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 1 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, 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 115163: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-29

Story

📰 Alaska Senate Race Ballot Controversy
Politics · 36 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Dem strategist shrugs off Alaska ballot scandal on MS NOW, insists 'this stuff happens all the time' Same event
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 70/100
Breaking down the report alleging Mary Peltola's campaign recruited a second Dan Sullivan in Alaska Different event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the New York Times report about Mary Peltola's campaign and a second Dan Sullivan, Article A breaks down the allegations while Article B comments on the analysis of the report by Sarah Bedford.”
Democrats pushed to get second Dan Sullivan on Alaska ballot with Peltola's help, NYT reports Same event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
Sen Dan Sullivan brands Peltola’s alleged ballot scheme a ‘scandal at the highest order’ Same event
Fox News
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 70/100
JASON CHAFFETZ: Democrats tried to trick Alaska voters. Peltola must answer Same event
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 1 of 31 claims Outlet record 70/100
Alaska Democrat Peltola scouted man with same name as opponent Dan Sullivan to run, NYT report says Same event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Times report on Alaska ballot stacking ‘really devastating’: Byron York Different event
Washington Examiner
Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of alleged ballot-stacking tactics by Mary Peltola's campaign, but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
The Law and Democrats Allegedly Recruiting Second "Dan Sullivan" to Run in Alaska Senate Race Same event
Reason
Hedges 8 of 19 claims Outlet record 67/100
'Decoy Dan' Sullivan case leads top senator to break four-year X silence: 'Pattern of Lies' Same event
Fox News
Hedges 5 of 17 claims Outlet record 70/100
Democrats caught in Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ lie Different event
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A discusses the initial report about 'Decoy Dan' being a Democratic plant, while Article B analyzes and comments on that report.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
2
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 2 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
70/100
Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
36
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Mackenzie Chase
67 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 67 articles by Mackenzie Chase →

Topics

Alaska Democratic New York Times Senate Washington Examiner

Subjects

Alaska GPE · 1× Dan Sullivan PERSON · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× Democrats NORP · 1× Mary Peltola PERSON · 1× New York Times ORG · 1× Republicans NORP · 1× Sarah Bedford PERSON · 1× Senate ORG · 1× Washington Examiner ORG · 1×

Narrative

“It kind of falls into the category of something that’s not that surprising, but also completely shocking, because this was a suspicion that a lot of Republicans had that the Democrats were involved in this,” Bedford said Wednesday on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29
2026-10-29 · Washington Examiner
New York Times ‘didn’t pull their punches’ on second Dan Sullivan allegations: Sarah Bedford · assertive framing

Claims (2 extracted, 0 hedged)

Washington Examiner investigations editor Sarah Bedford analyzed the New York Times report alleging that Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign conspired to confuse voters with a second candidate named Dan Sullivan. asserted
campaign → analyze → candidate
“It kind of falls into the category of something that’s not that surprising, but also completely shocking, because this was a suspicion that a lot of Republicans had that the Democrats were involved in this,” Bedford said Wednesday on The Hugh Hewitt Show. asserted
Bedford → fall → Show
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