BREAKING: NYT reports that operatives with Democratic Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign were behind the effort to find & recruit a candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against incumbent GOP Senator Dan S. Sullivan in an effort to confuse voters and peel votes from him.
Specifically, NYT says they have reviewed text messages and documents that reveal in summer 2025, a Peltola staffer received instructions from campaign staffers to find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as possible.
The staffer complied, going through voter records, and compiled a list. The operation “involved secret trips to far-flung Alaskan communities and the appearance of a mysterious Midwestern operative, who traversed the state using a fake name and made his pitch to would-be candidates over beers at brew pubs.”
Per NYT:
“The plan worked. This spring, a retired teacher from a tiny fishing village along the Alaska Panhandle, reachable only by air and sea, announced his candidacy for Senate. His name was Dan J. Sullivan.”
BREAKING: NYT reports that operatives with Democratic Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign were behind the effort to find & recruit a candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against incumbent GOP Senator Dan S. Sullivan in an effort to confuse voters and peel votes…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 28, 2026
JUST IN: President Trump says Democrat Mary Peltola should be kicked off the ballot after her team was caught coaxing Alaskans with the same name as Republican Dan Sullivan to run for office to confuse voters.
Peltola was “definitely aware” of what was going on, according to The… pic.twitter.com/82WkJujllC
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 28, 2026
Democrat Mary Peltola and operatives trying to rig the election in Alaska!
All Democrats know how to do is CHEAT. pic.twitter.com/VjcxiSCGxE
— Rochellemaryn 🌹🕊️ (@RochelleAz) October 28, 2026
From the NYT article:
Last week, as The Times prepared to publish this article, Ms. Rios, who had been planning to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the Peltola campaign, contacted The Times and said she wanted to take back her previous statements.
“As discussed on our call earlier today, I am confirming that I have retracted all statements made regarding the 2026 Alaska Senate Race in connection with any article you may or may not be writing,” Ms. Rios wrote. “I am not willing to be a source for any story in any capacity.”
It is rare for a source to seek to retract comments made in previous interviews, and The Times’s standards do not obligate reporters to comply with such requests. The Times had never agreed that those previous interviews could not be published, and informed Ms. Rios last week that they would be a part of this story.
In addition, Ms. Rios’s interviews were consistent with The Times’s other reporting. She has not filed a lawsuit against the campaign.