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Times ties Peltola to Dan Sullivan…

News · Heat 10.0 / 10 · 14 shows · 1h 43m airtime

On October 28, 2026, The New York Times reported that a Mary Peltola campaign staffer was told to find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as possible, producing Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg on the Senate ballot against GOP incumbent Dan S. Sullivan. Reporting has since added that operative Jared Kurtz was paid $87,000 for the Ballot Composition Project, that the Times found Peltola's campaign deeply involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan, and that people familiar with the matter say Peltola did not order the effort but was aware of it. Peltola has denied knowing about other candidates, fired her campaign manager, and the DOJ amended its suit to block certification entirely if she wins. An election lawyer…

How 14 podcasts covered it

  1. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-28 (1:37:04 to 1:41:28)
    Breaks out the Times texts tying Peltola to Sullivan
    Breaks out the Times report tying Peltola's campaign to the second Dan Sullivan on the ballot, with text messages as the paper's evidence. Halperin argues the story could decide the race and notes it reaches the DSCC and Marc Elias's firm; the Peltola staff story is only a callback.
    New angle: The Times obtained texts showing a Peltola staffer was told to find every Dan Sullivan in Alaska.
  2. Morning Wire, 2026-10-29 (2:41 to 7:04)
    Recaps the Times report with its reporter
    Recaps the Times report on the decoy Dan Sullivan with the reporter who has covered it, adding that the DOJ investigation predates the story and that Trump and Vance visited Alaska before it. Stays inside the original disclosure.
  3. The Fox News Rundown, 2026-10-29 (28:12 to 31:19)
    Adds the Buckeye operative and secret trips
    Walks through the Times reporting on the Dan Sullivan recruitment effort and adds the operational detail: the Ballot Composition Project, secret trips to off-road Alaska communities, and an operative paid $87,000 under the code name Buckeye. Frames it as Jersey-style dirty tricks and notes the Alaska Supreme Court called the ballot legal.
    New angle: Operative Jared Kurtz, code name Buckeye, was paid $87,000 for the Ballot Composition Project.
  4. Ruthless Podcast, 2026-10-29 (0:00 to 1:12)
    Reads the denials and ties them to other states
    Opens the episode with the Alaska Senate name-match allegation, reading the denials from the Peltola campaign, the DSCC, the Senate Majority PAC and Schumer, and tying it to similar claims in Montana, Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota.
    New angle: Democrats allegedly recruited a second Dan Sullivan to run against Alaska's Senator Dan Sullivan; the Peltola campaign, DSCC, Senate Majority PAC and Schumer denied involvement.
  5. Ruthless Podcast, 2026-10-29 (4:14 to 9:38)
    Recalls Sullivan's earlier appearance and reads the lead
    Recalls Sullivan's earlier appearance on the program, walks through Alaska's ranked-choice four-candidate ballot, and reads the lead of the New York Times follow-up: a Peltola staffer was told to find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as possible.
    New angle: A New York Times story reports a Peltola staffer was told to find as many Alaskans named Dan Sullivan as possible.
  6. Ruthless Podcast, 2026-10-29 (9:55 to 11:56)
    Plays Peltola's MSNBC clips on ballot confusion
    Plays two MSNBC clips of Mary Peltola answering the ballot-confusion charge directly: the ballot labels Sullivan as the incumbent Republican, and she calls it corruption on his side. A first on-the-record response from the candidate at the center of the story.
    New angle: Peltola said on MSNBC that Dan Sullivan is the one corrupting the process and that misleading the electorate should be a criminal offense.
  7. Ruthless Podcast, 2026-10-29 (11:56 to 14:49)
    Rehashes the first Times story and its naivety
    Rehashes Kellen Browning's first Times story on the other Dan Sullivan - the Petersburg reporting, the no-case-closing-evidence line, the vote for Peltola - and argues the paper was naive to take the matching name, initials and website at face value. Sets up the follow-up without adding to it.
  8. Ruthless Podcast, 2026-10-29 (14:40 to 19:15)
    Walks through the Times follow-up and firing
    Walks through the Times follow-up: two months of reporting, texts and documents, a broader spoiler recruitment effort, and Peltola firing her campaign manager, who says Peltola was not directly involved but definitely aware. Reads the 'do we have a scheme for you' texts.
    New angle: Peltola fired her campaign manager, who said Peltola was not directly involved but definitely aware.
  9. Start Here, 2026-10-29 (2:40 to 5:51)
    Recaps the Times report and flags verification
    Recaps the Times report on the Ballot Composition Project for ABC's audience: the two Dan Sullivans, the Alaska Supreme Court ruling, the aides' instructions and the campaign and DSCC denials. It stays inside the Times reporting and flags that ABC has not independently verified it.
  10. The Daily, 2026-10-29 (1:22 to 4:12)
    Retells the reporting behind the scoop
    Browning walks through the reporting behind the Times story: months of Republican allegations, Democratic denials, and the finding that the Peltola campaign and national Democrats ran a secretive plan to stack the ballot. It retells the scoop rather than adding to it.
  11. The Daily, 2026-10-29 (6:01 to 8:18)
    Tours Petersburg with the candidate
    Browning flies to Petersburg and gets the tour from Dan J. Sullivan himself: 46 years in the fishing village, a retired teacher, volunteer firefighter and former arts council member, who says he is running because he is worried about the place.
    New angle: Dan J. Sullivan has lived in Petersburg for 46 years and is a retired teacher and volunteer firefighter.
  12. The Daily, 2026-10-29 (7:58 to 11:41)
    Interviews Dan J. Sullivan on the record
    Browning's interview with Dan J. Sullivan puts his own account on the record: a moderate Republican fed up with the senator's policies, who says he found consultant Amber Lee through an online search and that nobody put him up to it, while conceding past donations to and votes for Peltola.
    New angle: Dan J. Sullivan says he found consultant Amber Lee through an online search and nobody recruited him.
  13. The Daily, 2026-10-29 (16:21 to 20:07)
    Details how the recruitment worked
    Browning walks through how the recruitment worked: Peltola aides and national Democrats planned to pack the ballot, Kurtz pitched candidates under the pseudonym Zane, and he reported back that Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg was open to running if it helped Peltola. Kurtz was in Petersburg shortly before the announcement.
    New angle: Kurtz, sometimes using the pseudonym Zane, reported Dan J. Sullivan was open to running if it helped Peltola, and visited Petersburg before the announcement.
  14. The Daily, 2026-10-29 (22:21 to 24:49)
    Walks through the sample ballot labels
    Walks through the sample ballot - Daniel J. Sullivan listed directly above Dan S. Sullivan, differentiated only by a lower-case parenthetical - and notes ranked choice voting could blunt the confusion. Adds Trump's Truth Social post claiming Democrats illegally recruited a Dan Sullivan.
    New angle: Trump posted on Truth Social that Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for and recruited a Dan Sullivan.
  15. The Headlines, 2026-10-29 (3:57 to 5:31)
    Recaps the Times report on ballot stacking
    Recaps the Times report on the ballot-stacking effort: aides and operatives planned to recruit extra candidates, a staffer was told to list every Dan Sullivan, and two ended up on the ballot. Stays inside the reporting already on the record.
  16. The Dan Bongino Show, 2026-10-29 (34:07 to 36:52)
    Recaps the Times story on the Alaska scheme
    Recaps the Times story on the Alaska ballot scheme between other stories, framing it as proof of a weak Democratic slate. Stays inside the reporting already on the record, adding only the aside that the Times had a named source from the Peltola campaign.
  17. Squawk Pod, 2026-10-29 (35:46 to 38:29)
    Predicts 50 or 51 GOP Senate seats
    Sununu works through the Senate map and lands on the Alaska ballot story: he credits the New York Times report, says Peltola's campaign put the other Dan Sullivan on the ballot, and now thinks the real Sullivan could win. Predicts 50 or 51 Republican seats.
    New angle: Sununu says about 2,000 lawyers are heading to Alaska over the ballot dispute.
  18. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-29 (52:33 to 58:21)
    Retells the recruitment scheme as vindication
    Retells the Times report on the Dan Sullivan recruitment scheme - the planning, the operative using pseudonyms, the June Alaska Supreme Court ruling - and frames it as vindication for the DOJ suit. Stays inside the reporting already on the record.
  19. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-29 (58:21 to 1:01:02)
    Critiques the interview for a missing question
    Plays and critiques Dana Bash's CNN interview with Todd Blanche, arguing she never asked how the second Dan Sullivan got on the ballot. Frames the Times reporting as proof Peltola operatives counted on Alaskan voters being fooled, without adding to the record.
  20. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-29 (1:01:23 to 1:05:49)
    Widens the scheme to four more states
    Widens the ballot scheme to Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho and Montana, and adds a detail about the Times' sourcing: the fired campaign chair Rios was its main source and called a week before publication to retract her statements.
    New angle: Fired campaign chair Rios was the Times' main source and called a week before publication to retract her statements.
  21. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-29 (1:05:49 to 1:10:24)
    Adds the source who went dark
    Walks through the Times' own Daily interview with Daniel J. Sullivan, who called himself a moderate Republican fed up with the senator, then went dark once he saw where the story was going. Adds that Kurtz scrubbed his LinkedIn and locked his X account, and that texts show DSCC and Peltola officials discussing the project for months.
    New angle: Kurtz removed his LinkedIn profile from public view and made his X account private.
  22. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-29 (1:10:24 to 1:15:33)
    Questions Bash's on-air framing of the scheme
    Plays Dana Bash's on-air framing that the Alaska ballot scheme is legal dirty tricks, then argues she is vouching for Peltola without knowing whether she is honest. Kelly says she will re-read the Sullivan lawyer's Alaska Supreme Court argument for a duty-of-candor violation.
  23. The Bulwark Daily, 2026-10-29 (57:58 to 1:03:17)
    Recaps the Times story and calls the trick dirty
    Recaps the Times story on the Dan Sullivan recruitment and the fired campaign manager's admission and retraction, then argues the trick was dirty, stupid and dangerous. Stays inside the reporting already on the record, adding only the hosts' view that it cannot explain the primary gap.
  24. The NPR Politics Podcast, 2026-10-29 (15:36 to 17:49)
    Recaps the Times reporting and the denials
    Recaps the Times reporting on the second Dan Sullivan, notes NPR has not confirmed it, and runs through the denials, the Alaska Supreme Court ruling and the DOJ suit. Stays inside the week's coverage, adding only the governor's new investigation in passing.
  25. Morning Wire, 2026-10-30 (1:48 to 3:41)
    Adds the sourcing on Peltola's awareness
    Recaps the two-Dan-Sullivan ballot and the Times reporting, then adds a sourcing detail: people familiar told the Times that Peltola did not order the effort but was aware of it. Also folds in the governor's and Trump's calls for an investigation.
    New angle: People familiar with the matter told the Times that Peltola did not order the effort but was aware of it.
  26. The Fox News Rundown, 2026-10-30 (1:00 to 8:33)
    Adds the DOJ amendment and the grand jury
    Walks through the Times report and the investigations around it, then adds two developments: the DOJ amended its suit Thursday to stop certification entirely if Peltola wins, and a federal grand jury has been investigating since July with subpoenas out in August.
    New angle: The DOJ amended its suit Thursday to block certification entirely if Peltola wins.
  27. Up First, 2026-10-30 (5:53 to 9:32)
    Adds a lawyer's read on the ethics
    Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin walks through the Times recruitment report and adds the legal read: election lawyer Scott Kendall says the conduct crosses ethical lines but breaks no Alaska law, since candidate motives do not matter. Also notes Peltola's and the DSCC's motion in the DOJ case and Peltola's Juneau denial.
    New angle: Election lawyer Scott Kendall says the described conduct is dirty but not illegal, and candidate motives do not matter under Alaska law.
  28. The Rest Is Politics: US, 2026-10-30 (7:17 to 9:35)
    Explains ranked choice and the Peltola denials
    Explains Alaska's ranked choice voting and how voters can rank both Sullivans, then argues the Times texts undercut six months of Peltola campaign denials. Reaction and framing on the disclosure, with no new reporting of its own.
  29. The Rest Is Politics: US, 2026-10-30 (13:39 to 14:35)
    Recalls the JFK decoy candidate precedent
    Answers a listener's point that Republicans have pulled dirtier tricks by reaching back to Joe Kennedy Sr. paying a janitor named Joe Russo to run against JFK, and calls the Alaska scheme not without precedent. History and framing, no new development.
  30. Lovett or Leave It, 2026-10-30 (9:48 to 11:42)
    Recaps the Times report on the Sullivan recruitment
    Recaps the Times report on the Peltola campaign's Dan Sullivan recruitment, the denial, Rios's account and the calls for investigations, with jokes about Dan-Dan noodling and a comparison to a hypothetical Abdul El-Sayed stunt.
    New angle: The Times reported Wednesday that Peltola's campaign was deeply involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan.
  31. Morning Wire, 2026-10-30 (2:05 to 3:05)
    Adds Peltola's first on-the-record denial in Juneau
    Adds Peltola's first on-the-record denial, delivered to reporters in Juneau, that she knew of any other candidates on the ballot, and Dan Sullivan's response calling her still lying. The rest recaps the Times report and the DOJ certification push.
    New angle: Peltola told reporters in Juneau she knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot.
Unpacking...