Report on alleged ‘second Dan Sullivan’ effort emerges after nearly 1 in 10 Alaskans voted
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Alaskans → allege → effort
By
Leo Briceno, Fox News
Published Oct. 30, 2026, 6:58 a.m. ET
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Briceno → publish → ?
A New York Times investigation revealed an alleged effort by operatives liked to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to recruit a second Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s ballot, but the report came as nearly 1 in 10 registered Alaska voters had already cast ballots.
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voters → reveal → ballots
The timing means roughly 58,000 voters may have made their choices before learning of the reported effort that critics say was intended to create confusion with a same-name candidate.
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critics → mean → candidate
Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC have denied involvement.
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campaign → deny → involvement
Dan J. Sullivan made it to the four-candidate general election earlier this year after winning 2.5% of the vote in the primary.
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Sullivan → make → primary
His campaign announcement did not list a party affiliation.
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announcement → list → affiliation
His website does not state his position on any political issues.
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website → state → issues
“Dan Sullivan challenges Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate Seat, urges Alaskans to defeat incumbent, elect a Sullivan who stands up for Alaska,” it read.
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it → challenge → Alaska
The New York Times reported that the effort to recruit potential Republican spoiler candidates included Dan J. Sullivan.
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effort → report → Sullivan
The effort spanned coordination between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) to Peltola staffers, according to text messages, interviews and internal documents.
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effort → span → messages
According to a source interviewed by the New York Times, Peltola was aware of the efforts.
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Peltola → accord → efforts
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit last week, seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan is defeated, citing the possible confusion.
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Sullivan → file → confusion
It’s unclear if the DOJ is likely to succeed on those grounds.
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DOJ → ’ → grounds
The state’s ranked-choice voting system is further complicating the election picture for Sen. Sullivan.
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system → rank → Sullivan
Under this system, voters rank their preferred candidates.
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voters → rank → candidates
If their top choice is eliminated, their support passes to their next-ranked option.
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support → eliminate → option
While supporters of the process argue it expands voters’ power and greatly increases the influence of candidates that may not otherwise be a top choice, critics believe it also introduces confusion.
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it → argue → confusion
Kaufman fears that some voters won’t bother to fill out both the “Sullivans” on the ballot to cover their bases.
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voters → fear → bases
He believes there are still some voters in Alaska, especially Republicans, who refuse to use the system, citing disagreements with its implementation.
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who → believe → implementation
“Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote,” Kaufman said in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this year.
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Kaufman → have → Digital
“And, so, the ballot fatigue where people just don’t rank because maybe they disagree with it; there’s a pretty strong segment of the population here that just patently disagrees with the rank-choice voting system we ended up with.
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we → rank → system
And they don’t necessarily believe in utilizing it,” he added.
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he → believe → it
Less than a week remains before the Nov. 3 general election.
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week → remain → election
The Aporia
