Alaska Ballot Scheme Sparks Media Scrutiny Over Coverage of Political Tactics

A report alleging Democratic operatives recruited a spoiler candidate in a key Alaska Senate race has prompted accusations that legacy media outlets are downplaying the scandal while framing the story around Republican responses. The New York Times reported that Democratic operatives recruited a man named Dan Sullivan to run as a spoiler against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, in an effort to aid Democratic opponent Mary Peltola.

CNN anchor Dana Bash commented on the story, stating, "So, this is not illegal. It is not new." She added that such tactics are "legal, dirty tricks" and noted 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." Bash recalled a past Alaska House race where a candidate reportedly recruited by Republicans was on the ballot while in prison.

Some news outlets focused on the Republican reaction to the report. Politico's headline read, "Trump, Murkowski hammer Peltola over Alaska ballot-stacking report," and The Associated Press reported, "Trump calls for prosecution of Democratic Alaska Senate candidate over spoiler candidate controversy." The Washington Post's headline stated, "Republicans launch investigations into Peltola campaign." MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander observed that Republicans were "using it as fodder" and "pouncing."

Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, suggested that some media outlets prioritize reporting on Republican reactions over the alleged misconduct itself. "This is a classic thing that we've been seeing with a lot of mainstream outlets, this idea that they're going to be more concerned about the Republican reaction to something seedy that the left is doing rather than the seedy thing itself," Snead told Fox News Digital. He added, "We know the media has double standards when it comes to the left and the right."

Bloomberg columnist Nia Malika-Henderson reportedly expressed a different view, suggesting that grassroots Democrats might see the scheme as a positive development, with one analyst saying Democrats were "finally" learning to "bring a knife to a knife fight." However, Malika-Henderson also lamented the leak of the story to The Times, fearing it would fuel accusations of Democratic election cheating from former President Donald Trump.

Journalists from outlets like ABC News and CBS News also emphasized that the alleged scheme was not illegal, even as investigations into the matter were launched. NBC News published videos questioning the legality of recruiting candidates for political races.

Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into the allegations, and the Department of Justice has issued new grand jury subpoenas. The Department of Justice had previously filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent senator lost and votes for the other Sullivan were deemed to have altered the outcome.

The New York Times report detailed that a staffer for Mary Peltola's campaign received instructions to find individuals named Dan Sullivan in Alaska. The plan, according to the report, was to confuse voters and potentially siphon votes from the incumbent Republican. The Times stated that Peltola's team worked with others to encourage potential spoiler candidates to enter the race.

Peltola has called the Times report a "distraction" and dismissed it as "stuff to sell newspapers." Her campaign has continued to deny involvement in the candidacy of Dan Sullivan Jr. Snead criticized reporters who he believes accepted the campaign's denials at face value for months, suggesting a lack of thorough investigation. "Aren't you reporters? Shouldn't you have actually done some investigation, done some digging, or did you simply take the denial at face value and move on?" he asked.