The Decoy Dan scandal went into overdrive after The New York Times came out with a blockbuster story connecting the Peltola Alaska Senate campaign to an alleged scheme to confuse voters with a second Dan Sullivan candidate.
The report also detailed the alleged involvement of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). A former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, claimed that Peltola was aware of the plot.
The Times had a lot of sources and text messages to back up its reporting, as well.
Initially, Democrat nominee Mary Peltola tried to dismiss the report as a "distraction" when she wanted to talk about affordability. Yeah, that line doesn't work for the Democrat nominee in the Michigan Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed, to try to avoid questions, either. People want answers. Peltola tried to fluff it off, likely hoping the furor would die down. But it didn't; it only intensified, with the investigations intensifying as well.
Then Peltola claimed on Thursday that she was unaware of the plot.
"I just want to clear the air," she said at the top of a speech in a downtown bar in Juneau, Alaska's capital. "I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters."
We saw Democrats like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair, Suzan DelBene, tell the media over and over again that the campaign had denied it in a hilarious struggle session as she tried to avoid the question of what she thought on the matter.
Except then came Friday, when Peltola was pressed again on the scandal, and the answer was a bit different. This time they went beyond her own knowledge to ask about the campaign, and that's when she appeared to throw the campaign under the bus. She was asked: “Is it possible that anybody in your campaign was potentially part of that conspiracy to plant Dan J?”
Fraudster Mary Peltola is now throwing her campaign under the bus for her scheme to disenfranchise Alaska voters. HOST: “Is it possible that anybody in your campaign was potentially part of that conspiracy to plant Dan J?” PELTOLA: “I have no idea…" https://t.co/k18NoCYqt4
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 2, 2026
"I have no idea," Peltola replied to the reporter. "I honestly have no idea."
"This is offensive to me on a number of different levels. First of all, this is Alaska...We're not in the business of tricking each other up here," she claimed.
So wait, you have no idea if anyone in the campaign was involved? Really? That's not even a denial. Then they could have been involved. I'm sure that they appreciate you saying that now, and not covering them. But she's concentrated on her own denial. I wonder what's going on in that campaign, and if any of the aides have gotten subpoenas that supposedly went out in the federal investigation. You have to think they're in turmoil about the investigations. Add in the turmoil that is likely going on with the DSCC as well.
Peltola said it's "offensive to me." No, sorry, ma'am, it's offensive to us that your campaign is alleged to have been trying to fool voters. Don't try to twist it; you're not the victim here.
Then too, let's think about what Peltola is saying here. If the campaign had such an effort going on allegedly for about a year, she's saying she didn't know about it? So she has no idea what her campaign is doing? Is that the kind of person you would want for Senate, even if you believed her version? Someone who doesn't even know what her campaign is doing? Why would anyone want to vote for that? If she was that unaware, then that tells you that she'd likely be unaware in the Senate as well. One more golden reason not to vote for her and to vote for the incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
But, sorry, I'm not buying this claim from her, and I'm guessing not many in Alaska are going to buy this as well. As our Ward Clark reported, the folks he spoke to in his local hamlet thought she had to know. That can't be good for her.
In a close race, this scandal could make all the difference.
