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Democrats Play Dirty in Alaska

Read the original at The Dispatch ↗
Cite

Goldberg, J., McCormack, J., Hayes, S., & Warren, M. (2026, October 30). Democrats Play Dirty in Alaska. The Dispatch. https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/democrats-play-dirty-in-alaska/

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

The Dispatch · collected 2026-10-30 · by Jonah Goldberg, John McCormack, Steve Hayes, Michael Warren

Quick Summary

Steve Hayes hosts a podcast where he discusses the upcoming 2026 midterm elections with Jonah Goldberg, Mike Warren, and John McCormack. They talk about Democratic efforts to confuse voters in Alaska’s Senate race by using two candidates named Dan Sullivan. The discussion also covers polling data showing a tight race in South Carolina's Senate contest and updates from states like Michigan, Kansas, and Montana. Hayes shares his experience at the World Series where he supported the Milwaukee Brewers.
Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 30, Mary Peltola, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alaska, has denied knowing about efforts by her campaign to recruit another candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to reports from The New York Times and CBS News. The revelation emerged after The New York Times reported on October 28 that Peltola’s campaign worked with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) in a covert operation to recruit spoiler candidates using the same name as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, aiming to confuse voters and potentially peel off votes from him.

The scheme reportedly involved multiple attempts to field additional "Dan Sullivans," including Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg who was not actively campaigning for the seat. Election authorities initially attempted but failed to disqualify this candidate due to challenges in proving voter intent. This alleged strategy has drawn criticism and demands for ballot changes, notably from President Donald Trump.

The controversy centers around allegations that Democratic operatives worked closely with Peltola’s campaign to undermine Sen. Sullivan's re-election chances by creating confusion among voters who might mistakenly vote for the wrong "Dan Sullivan." The DSCC and Peltola’s team are facing an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over these activities, which could have significant implications for democratic processes in Alaska and beyond.

Written for “Alaska Senate Race Scandal Investigation” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 60 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Centre (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: centre for article 116645 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-30

Story

📰 Alaska Senate Race Scandal Investigation
Politics · 61 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads centre and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 4 of 40 claims Outlet record 61/100
Antics in Alaska Different event
Reason
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 5 of 34 claims Outlet record 67/100
“Article A describes a specific allegation and investigation announced by Alaska's governor concerning Mary Peltola's campaign, while Article B is a general discussion about politics in the 2026 midterm elections that mentions the case of two Dan Sullivans but does not describe it as a specific event.”
CBC News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 11 of 51 claims Outlet record 60/100
Fox News
Hedges 5 of 22 claims Outlet record 70/100
NPR
Hedges 8 of 31 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 4 of 39 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A discusses key battles in the US midterm elections, focusing on political and economic issues including the race in Alaska. Article B focuses on a specific podcast discussion about anti-democratic efforts by Democrats to confuse voters in Alaska's Senate race, which is not the same specific event as described in Article A.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 3 of 5 claims Outlet record 70/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Centre
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Dispatch's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
61
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Dispatch · 396 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

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Topics

Alaska Brewers Milwaukee Senate the World Series

Subjects

Milwaukee GPE · 5× Brewers ORG · 3× Senate ORG · 3× Alaska GPE · 2× Dispatch ORG · 2× Florida GPE · 2× Jonah Goldberg PERSON · 2× Mike Warren PERSON · 2× Steve Hayes PERSON · 2× John McCormack PERSON · 1×

Narrative

I'm coming on about four hours of sleep and many, many cups of coffee this morning because I was at the Brewers' final game, Milwaukee Brewers' final game of the World Series in St. Petersburg, Florida last night.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
2026-10-30 · The Dispatch
Democrats Play Dirty in Alaska · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 1 hedged)

Steve Hayes is joined by Jonah Goldberg, Mike Warren, and John McCormack to discuss the case of two Dan Sullivans in Alaska’s Senate race and the Republican Party’s final pitch to voters before the midterms. asserted
Hayes → join → midterms
The Agenda: —Milwaukee wins the World Series —The affordability crisis —How unpopular is the Republican Party? —NWYT: asserted
Party → win → Series
I love the meat asserted
I → love → meat
On today's round table, we're going deep on politics in the 2026 midterm elections. asserted
we → go → elections
We'll discuss anti-democratic efforts by Democrats to confuse voters in the Alaska Senate race, and new polling that suggests a dead heat in the South Carolina Senate contest. uncertain
that → discuss → contest
And then we'll check in on Michigan, Kansas, and Montana from our reporters on the ground in those states. asserted
we → check → states
And finally, for not worth your time, I love the meat. asserted
I → love → meat
I'm joined today by Dispatch Editor in Chief, Jonah Goldberg, Dispatch Senior Editor, Jon McCormick, and Mike Warren, author of our must-read Next Right newsletter and Dispatch Politics Editor. asserted
I → join → newsletter
Let's dive in. asserted
's → let → ?
I am coming to you from Dispatch Headquarters South near Fort Myers, Florida. asserted
I → come → Myers
I'm coming on about four hours of sleep and many, many cups of coffee this morning because I was at the Brewers' final game, Milwaukee Brewers' final game of the World Series in St. Petersburg, Florida last night. asserted
I → come → Petersburg
I went to game four, which the Brewers lost in extra innings, and we decided to make the trip back up since we were already down here yesterday and had the chance to watch the Brewers triumph. asserted
Brewers → go → chance
I, I, nobody's gonna have any sympathy. asserted
nobody → go → sympathy
J-Jonah and Mike have been out on the road doing real reporting. asserted
Jonah → do → reporting
Nobody's gonna have any sympathy for me. asserted
Nobody → go → me
Are you gonna go to the parade in Milwaukee? asserted
you → go → Milwaukee
I'm not gonna go to the parade in Milwaukee, and I don't think my parents are gonna m-make it back, fly back in time to go to the parade in Milwaukee either. asserted
parents → go → Milwaukee
But we stayed after the game last night for a good hour and a half. asserted
we → stay → hour
And, I mean, it was an incredible... asserted
it → mean → ?
We variously estimated that Milwaukee fans were between 50 and asserted
fans → estimate → 50
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