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Alaska Senate candidate denies knowing about alleged plot to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot

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Cite

Faguy, A. (2026, October 30). Alaska Senate candidate denies knowing about alleged plot to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmwyq2gg1yzzo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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

BBC News · collected 2026-10-30 · by Ana Faguy

Quick Summary

Mary Peltola, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alaska, has denied knowing about an alleged plot to put two men named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. This denial follows reports by The New York Times that suggested her team was involved in recruiting a second Dan Sullivan to confuse voters. Republican Senator and incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and his allies have accused Democrats of trying to mislead voters. The controversy has led to an official inquiry ordered by Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, and escalated into a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is now issuing subpoenas related to the matter.
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

Mary Peltola's campaign, running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska against incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan, was involved in efforts to place another candidate named Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot to confuse voters. According to reports from The New York Times and other outlets, text messages between members of Peltola’s team discussed recruiting individuals with the same name as their opponent. Election authorities attempted to disqualify the second Dan Sullivan but failed to do so in time for the election.

The plan also reportedly involved creating a third-party "MAGA party" to siphon votes from incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, though this idea was eventually abandoned. The race is seen as crucial because it could determine which party controls the Senate, with Democrats currently holding 47 seats compared to Republicans' 53.

On election day and in the immediate aftermath, Republican supporters expressed concern that they might have mistakenly voted for "Decoy Dan" Sullivan instead of incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan, raising fears about potential vote confusion. The New York Times investigation also revealed efforts by a Democratic PAC to send voter guides replacing Sen. Dan Sullivan with the spoiler candidate.

Incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan has accused Democrats of engaging in election cheating, highlighting this as one of the most significant election controversies in Alaska's history.

Written for “Alaska Senate Race Controversy” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 101 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Alaska Senate Race Controversy
Politics · 102 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 22% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Alaska Democrat says she ‘knew nothing’ about effort to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot Same event
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
Peltola says she "knew nothing about" the other Dan Sullivan Same event
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 65/100
Peltola denies knowing of 'any other candidate' on ballot besides herself, incumbent Same event
ABC News (US)
Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 67/100
Alaska Democrat Peltola scouted man with same name as opponent Dan Sullivan to run, NYT report says Same event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 65/100
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 67/100
Sen Dan Sullivan brands Peltola’s alleged ballot scheme a ‘scandal at the highest order’ Same event
Fox News
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 68/100
Alaska governor orders investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign Same event
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100
Report on alleged ‘second Dan Sullivan’ effort emerges after nearly 1 in 10 Alaskans voted Same event
Fox News
Hedges 5 of 22 claims Outlet record 68/100
Governor probing 'Decoy Dan' Sullivan election scandal warns system flaw hiding in plain sight Same event
Fox News
Hedges 2 of 36 claims Outlet record 68/100
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
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
22%
5 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
102
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

BBC News · 5079 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Ana Faguy
20 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Ana Faguy
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2026-11-02 · BBC News
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 20 articles by Ana Faguy →

Topics

Alaska Democratic Republican Senate Times

Subjects

Senate ORG · 6× Peltola PERSON · 5× Alaska GPE · 4× Trump PERSON · 3× BBC ORG · 2× Dan J Sullivan PERSON · 2× Democratic NORP · 2× Republican NORP · 2× Sullivan PERSON · 2× Times ORG · 2×

Narrative

The Times's report alleged that people connected to Peltola's campaign, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), worked to try to recruit Dan J Sullivan, a retired teacher who lives in a remote fishing village, to stand in the Senate race.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
🔮 The Alaska race is considered by analysts to be one of the tightest of the upcoming US midterm elections, which will decide which party controls Congress.
2026-10-30 · BBC News
Alaska Senate candidate denies knowing about alleged plot to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot · mixed framing

Claims (23 extracted, 5 hedged)

- Published Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola has denied she knew anything about an alleged "scheme" that led to two men named Dan Sullivan standing in the Alaska Senate race. asserted
men → publish → race
The denial comes as the Trump administration continues to escalate a criminal investigation into the matter, according to US media. uncertain
administration → come → media
The Republican governor of the state ordered an official inquiry earlier this week. asserted
governor → order → inquiry
Dan S Sullivan, the incumbent Republican senator running for re-election, and allies have accused the Democrats of trying to confuse voters. asserted
Sullivan → run → voters
The Alaska race is considered by analysts to be one of the tightest of the upcoming US midterm elections, which will decide which party controls Congress. asserted
party → consider → Congress
"I just want to clear the air," Peltola said while speaking to voters on Thursday. asserted
Peltola → want → Thursday
"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
Both Dan Sullivans have been running for the open Senate seat for some time. asserted
Sullivans → run → time
Still, controversy erupted earlier this week when The New York Times, external reported that Peltola's team worked with people who tried to recruit spoiler candidates in the Senate race. asserted
who → erupt → race
The Times's report alleged that people connected to Peltola's campaign, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), worked to try to recruit Dan J Sullivan, a retired teacher who lives in a remote fishing village, to stand in the Senate race. asserted
who → allege → race
The paper said it had seen text messages and interviewed 12 people who participated in or were told of the plan, or were would-be candidates who the team tried to recruit. asserted
team → say → who
The BBC has not independently verified the reporting. uncertain
BBC → verify → reporting
The Peltola campaign has denied those reports and Sullivan has denied any links to the campaign. asserted
Sullivan → deny → campaign
But those denials have not stopped the US Department of Justice and Republicans from attacking Peltola. asserted
denials → stop → Peltola
The justice department has begun issuing subpoenas targeting Democratic officials allegedly connected to the effort to recruit Dan J Sullivan to be on the Alaska ballot, according to CBS News, the BBC's US news partner. uncertain
department → begin → News
No charges have been filed as of Friday morning. asserted
charges → file → morning
The Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit last week aimed at preventing the certification of the result if the Trump-backed Sullivan loses, arguing that the presence of both of them on the ballot could confuse voters. uncertain
presence → file → voters
On Wednesday, the justice department amended its lawsuit to include the reporting by the Times, citing significant sections of the story as well as Governor Mike Dunleavy's announcement of an investigation. asserted
department → amend → investigation
The legal action comes days before voters across the US head to the polls. asserted
voters → come → polls
This race in Alaska is among the closest-watched in the country, as it could be the deciding factor in who controls the Senate. uncertain
who → watch → Senate
The non-partisan Cook Political Report currently classifies the race as a toss-up. asserted
Report → classify → up
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