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Sen Dan Sullivan brands Peltola’s alleged ballot scheme a ‘scandal at the highest order’

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Moriarty, N. (2026, October 29). Sen Dan Sullivan brands Peltola’s alleged ballot scheme a ‘scandal at the highest order’. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/sen-dan-sullivan-brands-peltola-alleged-ballot-scheme-scandal-highest-order

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Fox News · collected 2026-10-29 · by Nora Moriarty

Quick Summary

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, accused his Democratic challenger Mary Peltola of attempting to confuse voters by recruiting someone with a similar name to run against him in the U.S. Senate race. According to The New York Times, Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee secretly worked for over a year on this alleged scheme. Sullivan characterized it as a "scandal at the highest order" during an interview on Fox News' "Hannity," arguing that Democrats will do anything to gain power. He further claimed that the incident demonstrates Peltola's contempt for Alaskans and implies broader implications for control of the U.S. Senate.
Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of November 1, 2026, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan accused his opponent, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, of lying about her campaign's involvement in recruiting a second candidate named Dan Sullivan to confuse voters in the upcoming Senate race in Alaska. According to The New York Times report from October 28, 2026, Peltola’s campaign and senior Democratic officials were involved in secret efforts to recruit spoiler candidates against Sen. Sullivan, including "Decoy Dan," a retired teacher with no active campaigning effort.

Sen. Sullivan claimed that the scheme was working, potentially causing him to lose votes due to voter confusion. Despite this, he stated that he would not contest the results if Peltola won. The report also mentions that election authorities in Alaska attempted but failed to disqualify "Decoy Dan," whose real name is Dan J. Sullivan and who switched his voter registration from Democrat to Republican shortly before filing his candidacy.

This controversy has led to questions among Alaskan voters about the integrity of the upcoming race, with some indicating it may impact their vote choice. Democratic hopeful Mary Peltola denied her involvement in recruiting "Decoy Dan," while campaign finance documents suggest otherwise. The scheme's success could have broader implications for Senate control, as Democrats and Republicans are closely contesting the chamber's majority.

Written for “Alaska Ballot Controversy” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 76 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Alaska Ballot Controversy
Politics · 77 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Mary Peltola and ‘Decoy Dan’ Sullivan face collusion accusations as DOJ investigates Alaska Senate campaign Same event
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan slams Democratic rival Mary Peltola over alleged ballot scheme, calling it ‘scandal of the highest order’ Same event
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan slams Democratic rival Mary Peltola over alleged ballot scheme, calling it ‘scandal of the highest order’ Same event
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
Breaking down the report alleging Mary Peltola's campaign recruited a second Dan Sullivan in Alaska Same event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
Antics in Alaska Same event
Reason
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 34 claims Outlet record 67/100
To Confuse Voters, Mary Peltola's Campaign Recruited a Second Dan Sullivan Same event
Reason
Hedges 4 of 19 claims Outlet record 67/100
Peltola campaign under fire after report it recruited 2nd Dan Sullivan in Senate race Same event
ABC News (US)
Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 70/100
Democrats pushed to get second Dan Sullivan on Alaska ballot with Peltola's help, NYT reports Same event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
Dem strategist shrugs off Alaska ballot scandal on MS NOW, insists 'this stuff happens all the time' Same event
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 69/100
JASON CHAFFETZ: Democrats tried to trick Alaska voters. Peltola must answer Same event
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 1 of 31 claims Outlet record 69/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
77
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-29 · 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

Nora Moriarty
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Fox News that Democrats will do "anything" to gain power while addressing reports that the campaign of his Democratic challenger Mary Peltola secretly participated in a months-long process to recruit people with his name to run in the Alaska U.S. Senate race.
2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Sen Dan Sullivan brands Peltola’s alleged ballot scheme a ‘scandal at the highest order’
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2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Joy Behar wants Trump back on ‘The View’ despite saying he’s ‘not long for this world’
🔮 "Given the fact that I'd been on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day," Zacharia said.
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Also by Nora Moriarty
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2026-10-17 · Fox News
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Nora Moriarty →

Topics

Alaska Alaskans Democrats Fox News U.S. Senate

Subjects

Sullivan PERSON · 12× Alaska GPE · 9× Peltola PERSON · 7× Alaskans NORP · 5× Alaskan NORP · 4× Fox News ORG · 4× Dan Sullivan PERSON · 2× Democrats NORP · 2× Republican NORP · 2× U.S. Senate ORG · 2×

Narrative

Peltola has dismissed reports of the alleged election scheme as "just another distraction," arguing that The New York Times’ report was solely purposed to "sell newspapers." Her campaign also continues to assert innocence, previously telling Fox News in part that the Alaskans for Mary campaign "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign." Republican Sen. Sullivan called out what he described as Peltola’s hypocrisy, saying the alleged election scheme shows her "total contempt" for the people of Alaska.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29
🔮 Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Fox News that Democrats will do "anything" to gain power while addressing reports that the campaign of his Democratic challenger Mary Peltola secretly participated in a months-long process to recruit people with his name to run in the Alaska U.S. Senate race.
2026-10-29 · Fox News
Sen Dan Sullivan brands Peltola’s alleged ballot scheme a ‘scandal at the highest order’ · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 1 hedged)

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Fox News that Democrats will do "anything" to gain power while addressing reports that the campaign of his Democratic challenger Mary Peltola secretly participated in a months-long process to recruit people with his name to run in the Alaska U.S. Senate race. asserted
campaign → tell → race
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola’s campaign, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, carried out the alleged election scheme in hopes that voters would be confused by two Dan Sullivans and therefore draw support from the incumbent Republican senator. asserted
voters → report → senator
"This is a scandal at the highest order," Sen. Sullivan said during an interview on "Hannity" Wednesday. asserted
Sullivan → say → Hannity
"She and her team, and at the highest levels of the DSCC, spent over a year scheming in a secret operation to trick Alaskans to get them to throw away their vote," Sullivan said. asserted
Sullivan → spend → vote
The Democrats will do anything to gain power." asserted
Democrats → do → power
The Justice Department is moving to delay certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate election results since two individuals by the name of Dan Sullivan appear alongside each other on the ballot. asserted
individuals → move → ballot
Listed on the ballot as "Sullivan, Dan S.," is the state’s incumbent U.S. senator, while "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.," is a retired schoolteacher. asserted
Sullivan → list → Sullivan
"They've been lying for almost a year about it, and now they're caught," Sullivan told Fox News host Sean Hannity. asserted
Sullivan → lie → Hannity
Peltola has dismissed reports of the alleged election scheme as "just another distraction," arguing that The New York Times’ report was solely purposed to "sell newspapers." Her campaign also continues to assert innocence, previously telling Fox News in part that the Alaskans for Mary campaign "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign." Republican Sen. Sullivan called out what he described as Peltola’s hypocrisy, saying the alleged election scheme shows her "total contempt" for the people of Alaska. asserted
scheme → dismiss → Alaska
"She's run a campaign about supposed corruption. asserted
She → run → corruption
She's the corrupt one working with D.C. insiders to trick Alaskans," he said. asserted
he → work → Alaskans
"[Peltola and the DSCC] think so little of Alaskans that they thought they can trick them," he added. asserted
he → think → them
The Alaska senator argued that Peltola made a concerted effort to trick voters with another Dan Sullivan because her campaign had "nothing to run on." "This is what happens when you have a candidate like Peltola — far-left — who's got nothing to run on," Sullivan said. asserted
Sullivan → argue → nothing
"I have a much stronger record… asserted
I → have → record
We have a vision for Alaskans that the Alaskan people want, and when they recognize that, they're like, ’Shoot, I guess we've got to cheat.’ asserted
we → have → that
Sullivan also noted that the alleged ballot scheme does not just apply to Alaska, but to the entire country as the state’s Senate race holds significant power in determining which party will hold a majority in the Senate. asserted
party → note → Senate
"This goes to the highest levels of the government," he said on "Hannity." asserted
he → go → Hannity
"The seat in Alaska could determine who controls the United States Senate. uncertain
who → determine → Senate
Federal prosecutors are conducting an "aggressive criminal investigation" into how the second Sullivan secured a spot on Alaska's ballot, two sources familiar with the matter told Fox News. asserted
sources → conduct → News
Sullivan told "Hannity" he will do his best to inform every single Alaskan of the scheme. asserted
he → tell → scheme
"We're going to make sure every single Alaskan knows about this," Sullivan said. asserted
Sullivan → go → this
"We are campaigning 24/7, and we're telling every Alaskan, ‘Don't let your vote be stolen.’" asserted
vote → campaign → Alaskan
Fox News Digital reached out to the Peltola campaign for comment. asserted
Digital → reach → comment
Fox News Digital's Robert Schmad and Olivia Palombo contributed to this report. asserted
Schmad → contribute → report
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