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Alaska Democrat says she ‘knew nothing’ about effort to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Campbell, L. (2026, October 30). Alaska Democrat says she ‘knew nothing’ about effort to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/30/alaska-democrat-senate-mary-peltola-dan-sullivan

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

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-30 · by Lucy Campbell

Quick Summary

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied knowing about efforts to put another candidate named Dan Sullivan on Alaska’s midterm election ballot, which is being investigated by the US justice department for potential voter confusion. As part of a criminal probe, federal subpoenas were issued after reports surfaced suggesting Peltola's campaign was involved in recruiting Dan J Sullivan Jr., aiming to split votes against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. Republicans and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy have condemned this as an attempt to manipulate the election results.
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 28, 2026, The New York Times reported that Mary Peltola’s campaign, running for the Democratic nomination in Alaska's Senate race against incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, had recruited another candidate named Dan J. Sullivan to confuse voters and potentially siphon votes from the incumbent. The effort was described as part of a broader strategy known internally as the "ballot composition project." This second Dan Sullivan, an unknown individual not actively campaigning, appeared on Alaska's midterm election ballot alongside both Peltola and Sen. S. Sullivan. While Peltola’s campaign denies involvement in recruiting this candidate, reports indicate top aides were instructed to search for individuals named Dan Sullivan they could recruit for the contest, with Peltola being "definitely aware." Republicans have criticized the move as unethical, while Democrats argue it highlights flaws in Alaska's election system, which includes ranked-choice voting.

Written for “Alaska Senate Race Investigation” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 75 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.65, but all 3 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 117598: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-30

Story

📰 Alaska Senate Race Investigation
Politics · 76 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.
BBC News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 5 of 23 claims Outlet record 69/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Mary Peltola's involvement or lack thereof regarding another Dan Sullivan entering the race, Article A reports on Republicans' claims about her campaign recruiting a challenger, while Article B quotes Peltola directly denying any knowledge of such efforts. These describe different moments and statements related to the same issue but are not reporting the exact same specific incident.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 1 of 31 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A discusses Jason Chaffetz's claims about Democrats trying to trick Alaska voters, while Article B focuses on Mary Peltola denying knowledge of an effort to put another candidate with the same name as Dan Sullivan on the ballot.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 70/100
“While both articles discuss Mary Peltola's response to accusations about a 'decoy' candidate, Article A focuses on national Democrats' silence and mixed messaging, while Article B specifically reports on Peltola's denial of involvement in the scheme during a speech.”
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe conflicting statements from Mary Peltola regarding her knowledge of an effort to put another candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot, not the same specific incident.”
Fox News
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 70/100
“While both articles discuss the same ballot scheme involving Mary Peltola's campaign, Article A reports on Sen. Dan Sullivan's reaction to the allegations, while Article B quotes Peltola herself denying knowledge of the scheme and comes from a later date as an update after a criminal investigation has escalated.”
Fox News
Hedges 4 of 18 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A discusses a social media controversy over resurfaced quotes, while Article B covers Mary Peltola's denial of knowledge regarding ballot efforts, indicating different occurrences.”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Mary Peltola's campaign and a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot, Article A describes allegations about Peltola's knowledge of recruiting a second candidate, whereas Article B reports on Peltola denying any involvement or knowledge of such an effort.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
76
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 Guardian · 1836 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Lucy Campbell
16 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The race is considered one of the most important contests of next week’s midterm elections, and will be key to determining control of the Senate.
🔮 The Last Ditch bar, in the small city of Greenfield, said in an Instagram post that it was searching for co-owners, new owners or a full sale, and that it would “soft close effective immediately”, with “only booked events” continuing while it closes this winter.
🔮 Those early votes are pacing well ahead of 2022Early voting is soaring compared with the last midterms in many of the battleground states, which will decide control of the Senate.
🔮 One day, it will be gone.
🔮 In the statement recently announcing that Jane Smith would no longer be its CEO, Family First Credit Union also apologized “for the concern, disappointment and pain this situation has caused”.
🔮 According to American Muckrakers, Jace Ratzlaff told Wheeler: “I assumed this would eventually surface.
🔮 “She struggled with the fear of not knowing when she would be released or whether she would end up wrongly convicted and imprisoned for years,” the lawsuit continues.
🔮 In a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday afternoon, the US president said he was expelling the news outlets over what he called their “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” and threatened that bans for others outlets could follow.
🔮 The eldest was developmentally disabled and could not even spell her name.
🔮 Donald Trump Jr and his wife, Bettina, confirmed on Monday that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin partially paid for the couple’s wedding celebrations in May, following a ProPublica report revealing Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the events.
Also by Lucy Campbell
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 16 articles by Lucy Campbell →

Topics

Alaska Democrats Republican Senate the Associated Press

Subjects

Alaska GPE · 6× Peltola PERSON · 6× Republican NORP · 4× Senate ORG · 4× the Associated Press ORG · 3× Dan Sullivan PERSON · 2× Democrats NORP · 2× Democratic NORP · 1× Juneau GPE · 1× Mary Peltola PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Separately, Mike Dunleavy, Alaska’s Republican governor, on Thursday announced plans to launch a criminal investigation, saying the Times’s reporting “reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates – including one with the same name as an incumbent US Senator – to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes”.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
🔮 The race is considered one of the most important contests of next week’s midterm elections, and will be key to determining control of the Senate.

Claims (17 extracted, 2 hedged)

Mary Peltola, a Democratic Senate candidate, has denied that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, as the US justice department escalated a criminal investigation this week with new grand jury subpoenas. asserted
department → deny → subpoenas
“I just want to clear the air,” Peltola said Thursday at the top of a speech in a downtown bar in Juneau, Alaska’s capital. asserted
Peltola → want → Juneau
“I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. asserted
I → know → me
That is all I have ever known about. asserted
I → know → ?
I am not interested in tricking voters.” asserted
I → trick → voters
Peltola is running against Dan Sullivan, the two-term US senator. asserted
Peltola → run → Sullivan
A person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony or documents, along with records preservation demands, were issued after the New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J Sullivan Jr as part of an alleged effort to confuse voters. asserted
campaign → tell → voters
The race is considered one of the most important contests of next week’s midterm elections, and will be key to determining control of the Senate. asserted
race → consider → Senate
Alaska is one of a handful of states with Senate races this year that Democrats are targeting as they try to win back a majority in the chamber, where they hold 47 seats to the Republican party’s 53, and recent polls have shown Peltola in the lead. asserted
Peltola → target → lead
More subpoenas were expected, according to the person who spoke to the Associated Press. uncertain
who → expect → Press
Republicans have condemned the presence in the race of two candidates named Dan Sullivan, calling the newcomer – a retiree living in south-eastern Alaska with very little political experience – a ploy by Democrats to cost the incumbent re-election by splitting the GOP candidate’s supporters. asserted
Republicans → condemn → supporters
Separately, Mike Dunleavy, Alaska’s Republican governor, on Thursday announced plans to launch a criminal investigation, saying the Times’s reporting “reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates – including one with the same name as an incumbent US Senator – to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes”. asserted
reporting → announce → votes
“Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections,” Dunleavy added, noting that the report “substantially supports” earlier findings by the state’s elections board into the matter. asserted
report → trick → matter
Donald Trump on Thursday cast doubt on whether Peltola would be seated in the Senate if she won the election. asserted
she → cast → election
“Well, you’re going to have to see what happens,” the president told reporters on his way to a rally in South Carolina. asserted
president → go → Carolina
“It’s hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run.” uncertain
she → ’ → ?
Later, as he rallied for Darline Graham, a Republican senator, Trump said he felt Peltola “actually should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted”. The Associated Press contributed reporting. asserted
Press → rally → reporting
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