I’m sure you could’ve predicted this talking point coming from The New York Times story about the elaborate scheme to trick Alaskan voters into voting for the wrong Dan Sullivan.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is running against former Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola. Amid this emerging duel, Democrat operatives found another Dan Sullivan to run as well, along with a lengthy communications stream about also possibly funding a fake MAGA party to further split support. With how shambolic Alaska runs its campaigns, this was the state to do it.
We knew this, too. We knew this back in May when Joe first covered the Peltola trickery. The Peltola campaign denies rigging the race. Right, and Jimmy Hoffa is still alive.
Nice of @nytimes to finally do some real journalism and report this blatant election meddling ONE WEEK before the midterms. Where were they MONTHS ago when Townhall broke the news that Mary Peltola's campaign was trying to trick Alaskans into voting for the WRONG Dan Sullivan? https://t.co/o0TF3GTy0p
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 28, 2026
NEW: [real] Dan Sullivan’s campaign spox Nate Adams tells @realDailyWire: “Alaskans deserve the truth. Mary Peltola, her campaign, and her senior advisors colluded with the DSCC, national Democrat lawyers, and Alaska Democrat operatives to recruit candidates to deliberately deceive and confuse voters, and then repeatedly lied about it.” “Not one player in this operation has acted in good faith with Alaska voters. Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along. We always knew this was a concerted effort to deceive Alaskans, and Mary Peltola was hoping it would stay covered up until after the election.”
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 28, 2026
NEW: Mary Peltola's campaign denies rigging the Senate election: “The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign," an Alaskans for Mary spox tells @realDailyWire. "Like Mary, our campaign is focused on lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC." Story to come.
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 28, 2026
And now, CNN is running interference with the usual ‘if the Democrats do it, it’s okay’ line that you’ve grown accustomed to.
WATCH: CNN's Dana Bash, Mark Preston, and Alayna Trenne DEFEND Alaska Democrats and Mary Peltola's campaign after The New York Times bombshell confirms they worked with national Democrats to find another "Dan Sullivan" to run in #AKSen to confuse voters “So, this is not illegal. It is not new” “Listen, two things you said very important. It’s not illegal and it’s not new.” “I use the term dirty tricks intentionally because it’s — it’s not illegal. This is something that — is untoward. It is something that Democrats have tried to do in races where they think it could be to their advantage to run candidates that could siphon votes away from Republicans and Republicans do the same. I mean, just in Alaska alone, Mary Peltola, who’s now on the ballot for the senate, she lost her House race two years ago. On that ballot, there was a candidate who was literally in prison who was reportedly recruited and — and kept on the ballot at the behest of Republicans. There’s a socialist running in Ohio with the hopes of taking votes away from the Democrat, Sherrod Brown. These are dirty tricks. They are legal, dirty tricks. But again, at a time when you have a President and his — supporters, particularly those with very big platforms, trying to undermine the election, and Alaska is a potentially key and even pivotal, pivotal Senate seat that could determine the outcome of the control of the Senate, it’s a big deal.” “It’s absolutely a big deal, and I think there’s no question, despite as you all have pointed out, and I think it’s worth saying, again, this was not illegal, something that [Republicans] are going to blow up.”
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 28, 2026
DANA BASH: I use the term dirty tricks intentionally because it’s — it’s not illegal. This is something that — is untoward. It is something that Democrats have tried to do in races where they think it could be to their advantage to run candidates that could siphon votes away from Republicans and Republicans do the same. I mean, just in Alaska alone, Mary Peltola, who’s now on the ballot for the senate, she lost her House race two years ago. On that ballot, there was a candidate who was literally in prison who was reportedly recruited and — and kept on the ballot at the behest of Republicans. There’s a socialist running in Ohio with the hopes of taking votes away from the Democrat, Sherrod Brown. These are dirty tricks. They are legal, dirty tricks. But again, at a time when you have a President and his — supporters, particularly those with very big platforms, trying to undermine the election, and Alaska is a potentially key and even pivotal, pivotal Senate seat that could determine the outcome of the control of the Senate, it’s a big deal.”
The Times added that Peltola wasn't directly involved in this scheme but was reportedly aware of it.
Oh, I'm sure.
Hey, Dana, if this is 'meh' on the media-caring scale, why did a horde of people think they would be cooked if they got caught? Also, are you gonna apologize to AG Todd Blanche, Ms. Bash? We didn't forget what happened on Sunday, and we'll rehash it in about five minutes.
Everyone in the extremely damning @nytimes report exposing the Peltola/Democratic role in the Dans Sullivan Maneuver sure did seem to know that it would be bad if they got caught. https://t.co/YO1g6aPnYP
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) October 28, 2026
UPDATE: Well...well...well
🚨Mary Peltola in August: “It should be a criminal offense to lie or mislead the electorate. YES!” https://t.co/oemOFQJxKZ
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) October 28, 2026