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Trump accuses Democrats of ‘scam’ in Senate race with two Dan Sullivans: ‘It’s confusing’

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Scott, O. (2026, October 22). Trump accuses Democrats of ‘scam’ in Senate race with two Dan Sullivans: ‘It’s confusing’. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-democrat-senate-dan-sullivan-b3071258.html

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

The Independent · collected 2026-10-22 · by Owen Scott

Quick Summary

President Trump has accused Democrats of cheating and confusing voters in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race by running a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan alongside the incumbent Republican, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, who faces Democratic nominee Mary Peltola. Trump claims that this setup is a scam and calls for legal action to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot. The race uses ranked-choice voting, which Trump says could allow "Decoy Dan" to impact the outcome despite trailing significantly behind Senator Sullivan.
Written by AI on 2026-10-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of 2026-10-22, President Trump has accused Democrats of "cheating" in a U.S. Senate race in Alaska involving two candidates named Daniel Sullivan: incumbent Republican Senator Daniel S. Sullivan and challenger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired school teacher. The election, set for November, also includes Democratic nominee Mary Peltola. Trump claims the Democrats are supporting both Dan Sullivans to confuse voters, referring to Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. as "Decoy Dan." Alaska allows ranked voting, meaning both Sullivans will appear on the ballot alongside Peltola. The state’s Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher had previously removed Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.’s name from the ballot in June, stating his candidacy was intended to confuse or mislead voters.

Written for “Trump Criticizes Democratic Senate Race Confusion” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump Criticizes Democratic Senate Race Confusion
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Reason
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 67/100
“Article A describes Trump accusing Democrats of cheating due to confusion between two candidates named Dan Sullivan, while Article B reports a federal lawsuit filed by the Trump Justice Department to block election results citing voter confusion. These are different actions and events.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of election issues in Alaska but do not describe the same specific incident.”
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 25 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Trump's accusation of cheating regarding the confusion with two Dan Sullivans, while Article B reports on Attorney General Blanche's statement about the DOJ's actions to prevent certification if there is voter confusion. These are different events related to the same election issue.”
NPR
Hedges 3 of 31 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss different topics: one focuses on preparations for potential fraud allegations by Trump regarding midterms, while the other discusses Trump's accusations of cheating in a Senate race involving multiple candidates named Dan Sullivan.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 16 of 66 claims Outlet record 60/100
“While both articles discuss confusion caused by two candidates named Dan Sullivan in an election, Article A focuses on Trump's accusation of cheating, while Article B reports on a DOJ lawsuit to delay certification due to voter confusion.”
Global News
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 63/100
“The articles discuss related topics involving the same Senate race but describe different aspects of it—Trump's accusation and a legal expert responding to a DOJ lawsuit.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 7 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses Trump's accusation of cheating due to a name similarity in the Senate race, while Article B reports on Trump ordering the DOJ to sue Alaska to block vote certification if his preferred candidate loses.”
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
8%
2 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3430 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Owen Scott
81 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Seeing a passenger jet flying low overhead here would be quite a bad sign!
🔮 Trump has previously stated that he will accept the midterm results, under one condition.
🔮 William “Stone” Romberg, a beach hospitality manager who worked in Florida’s panhandle, was killed on Sunday as he swam out to untangle the bird from his lure after casting it near an inlet in the Panama City Beach area.
🔮 President Donald Trump has warned a federal judge that he will hold her personally responsible if anyone dies on a “highly dangerous” golf course he wants renovated.
🔮 Currently, the GOP controls both the House and the Senate, but some polls have shown that the Democratic Party could flip the balance of power in Congress.
🔮 During his show, Maher said that Trump had the “lowest approval rating of any midterm candidate ever,” poked fun at the president’s comments about Senator Jon Husted’s body and asked Leavitt what Trump could be like during the “lame-duck” phase of his presidency.
🔮 A DOGE affiliate who oversaw the firing of thousands of federal employees and ended USAID may not have had the authority to do so, according to a report.
🔮 The former press secretary was asked by Finnerty if she would ever return to Hannity’s show, after her tense interview with the Fox News host.
🔮 However, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday that his endorsement of Netanyahu turned around the latter’s campaign and may still carry him back to office. “When President Trump endorsed Bibi Netanyahu, the whole tide turned, and now, rather than a decisive defeat for a Great Prime Minister, it looks like a big come-from-behind stalemate, or even a WIN for Netanyahu,” Trump wrote, seemingly crediting the quote to a man named Irving C. Schwartz.
🔮 During his show, Maher said that Trump had the “lowest approval rating of any midterm candidate ever,” poked fun at the president’s comments about Senator Jon Husted’s body and asked Leavitt what Trump could be like during the “lame-duck” phase of his presidency.
Also by Owen Scott
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 81 articles by Owen Scott →

Topics

Alaska Democrats Independent Republican U.S. Senate

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 6× Sullivan PERSON · 4× Alaska GPE · 3× Democrats NORP · 3× Republican NORP · 3× Daniel J. Sullivan PERSON · 2× Daniel S. Sullivan PERSON · 2× Sullivans PERSON · 2× Independent NORP · 1× U.S. Senate ORG · 1×

Narrative

To confuse matters further, the retired teacher was previously removed from the ballot in June, with Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher writing in a letter that his intention to run to be a senator was “filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22
🔮 That means both Sullivans will appear on the ballot, along with Peltola.

Claims (24 extracted, 2 hedged)

President Trump has accused the Democrats of ‘cheating’ in a U.S. Senate race involving two men named Dan Sullivan. asserted
Trump → accuse → men
Republican Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired school teacher, is running to replace Republican Senator Daniel S. Sullivan in November’s election. asserted
Sullivan → run → election
Democratic nominee Mary Peltola is also running in the race, but Trump claims the Democrats are somehow involved with the challenger Sullivan as well in a bid to confuse voters. uncertain
Democrats → run → voters
Some Republicans have labeled Daniel J. Sullivan as “Decoy Dan” in an effort to differentiate him from the senator. asserted
Republicans → label → senator
“I am very concerned about the Dan S. Sullivan Race for the U.S. Senate in Alaska in that it is totally confusing, with the Dumocrats putting up another man, totally unrelated to Politics, named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr,” he wrote. asserted
he → put → Politics
“It’s ridiculous that the Court didn’t stop this SCAM.” asserted
Court → ’ → SCAM
In Alaska, voters are able to rank their top picks instead of choosing one single candidate. asserted
voters → rank → candidate
That means both Sullivans will appear on the ballot, along with Peltola. asserted
Sullivans → mean → Peltola
“Even 1, 2, or 3% could make the difference,” Trump says. uncertain
Trump → make → difference
“Dan S. Sullivan is leading by a lot, but this is CHEATING in an Election, and the Judge that allowed this to happen should be ashamed of himself. asserted
this → lead → himself
The commander-in-chief went on to say that he was examining ways to have the retired teacher removed from the ballot - for the second time. asserted
teacher → go → time
“We are looking at powerful legal options to remove the fraudulent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. from the Ballot, and holding the Democrats accountable for their Election Interference, in the pursuit of Justice and Fairness,” he continued. asserted
he → look → Justice
To confuse matters further, the retired teacher was previously removed from the ballot in June, with Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher writing in a letter that his intention to run to be a senator was “filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead.” asserted
intention → confuse → purpose
Days later, the Alaska Supreme Court ordered that Sullivan must be put back. asserted
Sullivan → order → ?
He will now be listed as having no party affiliation. asserted
He → list → affiliation
Underneath his post, Trump included an image of both Sullivans’ names - although Daniel S. Sullivan was marked with a golden stamp reading: “Trump endorsed.” asserted
Trump → include → stamp
The other Sullivan’s name was crossed out and is featured next to an image of a donkey - the Democratic Party symbol. asserted
name → cross → donkey
The retired teacher told The Petersburg Pilot that he had been a member of the Alaska Independence Party until it dissolved in late 2025, only registering as a Republican when he filed for his candidacy in the Senate race. asserted
he → tell → race
While campaigning for the incumbent Sullivan earlier in October, Trump urged Alaskans to vote for Alaska Measure 2 - which, if passed, would repeal the ranked voting system. asserted
which → campaign → system
“You go in No. 1, you come out No. 2, No. 3. asserted
you → go → .
Nobody knows what they’re doing back there,” he told a crowd. asserted
he → know → crowd
“They know what they’re doing. asserted
they → know → what
It’s a scam. asserted
It → ’ → ?
It’s a Dumocrat scam, and you got to repeal it.” asserted
you → ’ → it
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