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As a report about an alleged election scheme shakes up Alaska's Senate race, Alaskans are revealing to the Daily Mail whether the scandals surrounding Democrat Mary Peltola will impact their votes.
asserted
scandals → take → votes
The answer revealed in our interviews is an emphatic 'no.'
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answer → reveal → interviews
A New York Times report this week alleged that Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recruited a candidate sharing the name of GOP incumbent Dan Sullivan to boost Peltola’s chances.
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campaign → allege → chances
FBI agents are contacting donors to the other Dan Sullivan, who has vanished from his home in the tiny fishing town of Petersburg, the AP reported.
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AP → contact → Petersburg
On Friday, US Attorney for Alaska Michael Heyman confirmed that a civil lawsuit and a criminal probe are both underway, though he did not say what crime is being investigated.
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crime → confirm → Alaska
The governor has opened a separate probe.
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governor → open → probe
Peltola told KTUU at a Friday night rally that she has ‘no idea’ whether anyone on her campaign helped recruit the decoy.
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anyone → tell → decoy
‘This is offensive to me on a number of different levels,’ she said.
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she → say → levels
Erika Monahan, who had planned to vote for Peltola, told the Daily Mail 'these shenanigans aren't ideal' but said the story wouldn't change her mind.
Democratic hopeful Mary Peltola denied her involvement in recruiting the GOP incumbent Dan Sullivan's name double, who is also listed as a candidate for Alaska's Senate seat
Republican Senator Dan S Sullivan and other conservatives are trying to leverage the alleged political trickery to even stop the Last Frontier from certifying its election results, if Peltola wins
Donald Trump said that voters need a '190 IQ' to understand the ballot, although it clearly distinguishes between the two Dan Sullivans.
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it → plan → Sullivans
According to the president, most people 'don't know what incumbent means'
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incumbent → accord → what
Monahan said she is more upset about Sullivan's continued loyalty to President Trump and his 'stupid and unlawful war.'
'Give me a break.
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she → say → break
disgusts me,' she added.
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she → disgust → me
'You can have very fiscally conservative opinions, you can advocate for limited government.
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you → have → government
But a decent American can't cast a vote for them.'
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American → cast → them
Warren Richard Jones, a former US marine who considers himself an Independent, doubts the accusations against Peltola are true.
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accusations → consider → Peltola
He further explained that he would disapprove of the alleged scheme if it was proven but still does not know 'whether it would've moved me.'
Jones, who is Yup'ik just like Peltola, added that he does not support the Democratic Party otherwise and said: 'I even think there's gonna be Republicans that vote for her just to spite the current administration because they're so unhappy.'
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they → explain → administration
Cost of living is a central issue burdening Alaskans this election cycle.
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Cost → burden → Alaskans
In late August, a store in the remote village of Shungnak charged $26.82 a gallon for gas, up from $13.99 the day before.
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store → charge → 13.99
The Senate race also made headlines in September after nine anonymous former Peltola staffers, who spoke to The New York Times, dished dirt on their old boss and painted a picture of her as prone to anger.
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who → make → anger
Peltola reacted to a commercial that showed her posing for a photo with a commercial fisheries executive by saying of the exec: 'F**k that r***rd,' before adding 'honestly, I nothing him,' a reference to the sitcom Scrubs.
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I → react → sitcom
The campaign told the Times that she regretted saying that word and knew it was inappropriate.
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it → tell → word
At least four staffers also claimed to have heard her use the word 'f***ot,' which her campaign denied.
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campaign → claim → which
Jones said he didn't appreciate reading about Peltola's foul-mouthed tirades but that they were no deal breaker either.
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they → say → tirades
'I don't like it and I just don't permit it in my presence.
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I → like → presence
told the Daily Mail that they had no issue understanding the difference between the two Dan Sullivans on the ballot
'Decoy' Dan Sullivan accused of being a plant to increase Democrat's chances of winning Alaska's Senate seat reportedly left his hometown earlier this week, only days before the New York Times findings got public
Don Rearden, who went to high school with Peltola, agreed that Alaskans would ‘probably forgive her’ for language often heard among the state’s fishermen.
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Alaskans → tell → fishermen
‘Two years ago, we had an Independent candidate running as Santa Claus against Peltola for Congress,’ he said.
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he → have → Congress
‘I’m not into scheming or trying to cheat the system but this is not really news and has not at all impacted voting choice.’
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this → ’m → choice
Lauren Wolford, who grew up in a family of commercial fishermen and sits on a Fish and Game advisory committee, has already voted for Peltola and ‘absolutely did not change’ her mind.
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who → grow → mind
‘The whole situation is ridiculous and every logical person I know is ignoring it,’ she said.
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she → know → it
‘It’s very clear on the ballot, who is Dan Sullivan - the Alaskan Senator - vs the other person.’
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Sullivan → ’ → person
Alaska has gone to great lengths to tell the two men apart.
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Alaska → go → men
The ballot lists the senator as Dan S Sullivan, marked ‘incumbent’, and his namesake as Daniel J Sullivan.
Trump
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ballot → list → Sullivan
still insists voters need a ‘190 IQ’ to get it right because most people ‘don’t know what incumbent means.’
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incumbent → insist → what
He has called for Peltola to be prosecuted, decried ‘fraud’ in the state and demanded that she and the ‘decoy’ Dan be removed from the ballot.
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she → call → ballot
US Attorney for the District of Alaska Michael Heyman said: 'Recent reporting has resulted in troubling new revelations'
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reporting → say → revelations
The Alaskans the Daily Mail spoke to said the New York Times investigation did not change their minds on who they vote for
Trump's DOJ has sent letters to election officials across the country demanding that they preserve election records for a minimum of 22 months or face criminal penalties.
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they → speak → penalties
In the meantime, the doppelganger of the Republican incumbent disappeared from the tiny fishing town of Petersburg where he lives and FBI agents on the ground are contacting donors who gave money to Dan Sullivan 2.0, AP reported.
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AP → disappear → Sullivan
The New York Times noted Peltola's former campaign manager Elisa Rios as a source, who claimed Peltola was 'definitely aware' of the political trickery.
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Peltola → note → trickery
Firing back, Peltola said: 'Clearly, folks are gone, they’re gone for a good reason.
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they → fire → reason
If I could fire them again, I’d be happy to fire them again.'
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I → fire → them