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Joe Concha applauds NYT’s ‘Decoy Dan’ scoop and blasts reader backlash as ‘confirmation bias’

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Chase, M. (2026, November 2). Joe Concha applauds NYT’s ‘Decoy Dan’ scoop and blasts reader backlash as ‘confirmation bias’. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4787757/decoy-dan-alaska-senate-nyt-joe-concha/

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Washington Examiner · collected 2026-11-02 · by Mackenzie Chase

Quick Summary

Joe Concha, a Washington Examiner columnist, praised the New York Times for exposing what he called the “Decoy Dan” incident in Alaska, where one candidate was reportedly used to mislead voters. On Fox and Friends First, Concha commended the NYT's reporting as "justified," noting that the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan had been evident for weeks. He also criticized readers' negative reactions to the story, dismissing them as “confirmation bias.”
Written by AI on 2026-11-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In a recent report by The New York Times, it was revealed that Mary Peltola's Democratic campaign team attempted to recruit another candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan. This effort aimed to confuse voters and potentially impact the outcome of Alaska’s Senate race, which could determine party control in the chamber. According to text messages obtained by the newspaper, the Democrats also explored creating a third-party "MAGA" party but ultimately abandoned this idea. The presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot has led President Trump to demand that Alaska change its election rules, alleging that the Democratic scheme is illegal and deceitful. Republican Senator Sullivan himself warned that he might lose votes due to this strategy. While some articles present this as a coordinated effort by Democrats to undermine the incumbent’s re-election bid, others suggest it may be an exaggerated narrative.

Written for “Dan Sullivan Decoy Controversy” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 78 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.15, 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 123489: attributed speech only · logged 2026-11-02

Story

📰 Dan Sullivan Decoy Controversy
Politics · 79 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.
New York Times ‘didn’t pull their punches’ on second Dan Sullivan allegations: Sarah Bedford Same event
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 70/100
Dan Sullivan releases first ad since Mary Peltola ‘Decoy Dan’ report Different event
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A reports on Sen. Dan Sullivan releasing an advertisement in response to a New York Times report, while Article B comments on Joe Concha's reaction and opinion about the 'Decoy Dan' story reported by the NYT.”
Dem Mary Peltola doesn’t fully deny involvement in ‘Decoy Dan’ scheme to confuse Alaska voters Different event
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Mary Peltola's involvement in a scheme to confuse voters with 'Decoy Dan,' while Article B comments on Joe Concha's reaction to NYT's reporting about the same event, but they are not describing the exact same specific incident.”
Liberal media downplays Alaska ballot scandal while decrying GOP 'pouncing' Different event
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 5 of 40 claims Outlet record 69/100
“While both articles discuss the New York Times report about the Alaska ballot scandal, they describe different aspects of the coverage and reactions to it.”
The 'real' Dan Sullivan erupts at 'secret scheme to trick' voters in his Alaska Senate race as Trump blasts alleged Democrat gambit as 'voter fraud at the highest level' Different event
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 41 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A describes Senator Dan Sullivan's reaction to another candidate with the same name, while Article B discusses a columnist's commentary on a New York Times report about 'Decoy Dan'.”
Bari Weiss faced ‘significant resistance’ from CBS News on the ‘Decoy Dan’ scandal: insiders say Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 6 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses internal resistance at CBS News regarding the 'Decoy Dan' scandal, while Article B comments on a Washington Examiner columnist's reaction to the New York Times report.”
Governor probing 'Decoy Dan' Sullivan election scandal warns system flaw hiding in plain sight Different event
Fox News
Hedges 2 of 36 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A discusses Governor Dunleavy's warning about a vulnerability in Alaska's election system due to an alleged Democratic scheme, while Article B comments on Joe Concha's reaction and approval of the New York Times' reporting on the 'Decoy Dan' incident.”
Alaska’s Dan Sullivan dupe: Letters to the Editor — Oct. 31, 2026 Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 32 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses a letter to the editor regarding allegations about confusing voters with multiple candidates named Dan Sullivan, while Article B reports on Joe Concha's reaction to the New York Times' story about the same issue.”
Dem strategist insists ‘Decoy Dan’ scheme ‘happens all the time’ as Mary Peltola faces heat for Alaska scandal Different event
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss related events regarding the 'Decoy Dan' scheme in Alaska, but they describe different responses to it—one by a Democratic strategist downplaying the incident and another by a columnist praising The New York Times for reporting on it.”
‘Decoy Dan’ dirty trick has sent Trump on the warpath in Alaska Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 40 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss the 'Decoy Dan' situation in Alaska, Article A describes the initial news report about the ballot issue, while Article B focuses on a columnist's reaction to and commentary on that same news 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
79
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-02 · 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
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 71 articles by Mackenzie Chase →

Topics

Alaska Fox and Friends First Washington Examiner the New York Times

Subjects

the New York Times ORG · 2× Alaska GPE · 1× Concha PERSON · 1× Dan Sullivans PERSON · 1× Fox and Friends First ORG · 1× Joe Concha PERSON · 1× Washington Examiner ORG · 1×

Narrative

“Kudos to the New York Times here, guys, because the story was justified completely; we’ve seen it in plain sight for weeks, the two Dan Sullivans,” Concha said Monday on Fox and Friends First.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-02
2026-11-02 · Washington Examiner
Joe Concha applauds NYT’s ‘Decoy Dan’ scoop and blasts reader backlash as ‘confirmation bias’ · assertive framing

Claims (2 extracted, 0 hedged)

Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha gave a “golf clap” to the New York Times for reporting that the “Decoy Dan” in Alaska was intentionally set up to confuse voters. asserted
Dan → give → voters
“Kudos to the New York Times here, guys, because the story was justified completely; we’ve seen it in plain sight for weeks, the two Dan Sullivans,” Concha said Monday on Fox and Friends First. asserted
Concha → justify → weeks
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