While prominent Democrats have spent years warning about threats to democracy, dozens of lawmakers and governors who endorsed Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola have declined to respond to Digital’s questions about a reported effort to confuse voters and potentially cost Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan his seat.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that aides to Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola helped recruit a man named Dan Sullivan to run in an alleged effort to draw votes from Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan – though Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement.

Digital reached out to 42 Democratic lawmakers and governors who endorsed Peltola to ask whether they would denounce the alleged effort to mislead Alaska voters.

As of publication, not a single one has responded.

MARY PELTOLA’S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, for instance, stated that «voter suppression is poisonous, it is toxic to our democracy,» in 2022. His colleague, Sen. Chris Murphy, meanwhile, argued in April 2025 that «those of us who believe that the threat to democracy is urgent» need to «act like it.»

And Sen. Cory Booker said in December 2016 that «protecting American democracy is a calling far higher than party politics.»

‘DECOY DAN’ SULLIVAN CASE LEADS TOP SENATOR TO BREAK FOUR-YEAR X SILENCE: ‘PATTERN OF LIES’

Despite their outspoken defenses of democracy and insistence that protecting it should transcend party politics, none of these lawmakers responded to Digital’s questions about the alleged effort to mislead Alaska voters.

Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who has made a name for himself by publicly breaking with his party on some issues, has also remained mum on the controversy.

Peltola has asserted that her campaign «has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.» The Times, for its investigation, relied on text messages it obtained as well as interviews with former campaign staffers.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Alaska on Oct. 22 seeking to delay certification of the state’s Senate election if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome, pending an investigation into whether voter confusion played a role in the result.

ALASKA’S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME

Legal experts from across the political spectrum who previously spoke to Digital said that the case faces significant challenges, particularly as it relates to trying to infer voter intent from anonymous ballots and overcoming the sovereignty of states over their elections.

Among the other Democratic Senators reached by Digital were Sens. Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla, Maggie Hassan, Chuck Schumer, Catherine Cortez Masto, Angela Alsobrooks, Andy Kim, Brian Schatz, Ed Markey, Elissa Slotkin, John Hickenlooper, Jon Ossoff, Kirsten Gillibrand, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Mark Kelly, Michael Bennet, Ruben Gallego, Sheldon Whitehouse and Tammy Duckworth.

The U.S. House members reached by Digital included Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Chris Pappas, Brittany Pettersen, Eric Sorensen, Mike Levin, Hillary Scholten, Jared Huffman, Josh Harder, Pramila Jayapal, Sarah McBride, George Whitesides, Jonathan Nez and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who does not currently hold office but is running to retake his Senate seat, and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, were also asked for their reactions on the reporting.

Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gavin Newsom of California, as well as former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper – who is in the midst of a Senate campaign – were also reached for comment. 

Peltola’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

At least one Democrat has publicly criticized the alleged tactic. Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand told on Sunday that «both parties are doing it and neither party should be doing it,» calling such efforts «manipulating the political system.»

politics, voting, midterm elections, cory booker, john fetterman, alaska

They always ask if I felt something. «Across your foot? Your shin?» My shin? 

«Yeah. Your ankle. Did you feel it?» Not really. But before I respond, they ask again.

What was it like?» they inquired. «Or did you just fall?» Then they speculated I might be clumsy.

Hmmph. Clumsy. I truly don’t think so.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: CONGRESS BRACES FOR POST-ELECTION GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS AS LEADERSHIP BATTLES LOOM

Oh. I fall like everyone else. I work out daily. I’ve taken a couple of tumbles on predawn runs in Alexandria, Virginia. You never know when one of those sidewalk snakes will slither up from the asphalt and nip you on the ankle. I used to snow ski. I studied martial arts for years and hold a second degree black belt.

Clumsy? Nah.

«But, what do you think it was?» they follow up. Well, I have my theories.

I was a little tired that day. I noted the lip on the small staircase near the Memorial Door of the U.S. Capitol where I may have caught the edge of my brown loafers.

I remember my shoes. Rubber soles. Slight scuff on the toes. Perfectly matched with my crisp tan summer suit. Not quite an «Obama» tan suit. But appropriate for summer. And I thought at least reasonably dapper for traipsing around the U.S. Capitol and covering Congress on a sweltering July day.

Was it the shoes? My fatigue? Or how about my haste to «get the story.» I spotted then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his small coterie of aides and a security detail descending a spiral staircase after a meeting with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. D-Calif.

I would try to ask Trudeau a question.

No. This really doesn’t have anything to do with Trudeau. Or the fact that I recalled that there was a picture of him, aged about 14 or 15, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, rooting for the Expos. He’s there with his father — the most storied of all Canadian prime ministers — the late Pierre Trudeau.

Of course, the Expos no longer play in Montreal. They don’t play at all. They moved to Washington in 2005 and are now the Nationals. And this was before the tariff wars. Montreal has been bereft of Major League Baseball ever since.

What would Youppi! Say?

Look him up, kids.

No, there wasn’t something across my shin or ankle. I didn’t feel anything. I was there, on those steps, in the U.S. Capitol, because I’m a baseball fan. And I found out that Justin Trudeau watched those old Montreal Expos teams in the 1980s. Stocked with Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie and Steve Rogers. And even though Trudeau was there to discuss affairs of state with Pelosi and others, I was there to ask him about the national pastime.

Ironic, I know, to pose such an interrogative to a Canadian.

However, the reason was that there was a report that the Tampa Bay Rays might consider splitting their season each year between Florida and Montreal. Big league baseball would return to Quebec. It would be international news if Trudeau commented. It would appear on Fox. FS1. ESPN. TSN in Canada. And Montreal — famously robbed of perhaps winning the World Series in 1994 with the best team in the game that year because of the player’s strike — might have a shot again at baseball glory.

But journalism is like baseball. A game of failure. You sometimes swing and miss. You’re doing great if you’re successful three out of ten times.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHY REMOVING ILHAN OMAR FROM CONGRESS COULD BE HARDER THAN TRUMP EXPECTS

And sometimes, in journalism, the question is never asked.

That was this day. On those steps. Questions about the Rays and Montreal were muted. All because of whatever got me.

Absolutely got me.

I stepped toward Trudeau, mumbled something about Tampa Bay and bought it.

I fell on those steps. Directly in front of the Canadian Prime Minister. On the hard Capitol marble.

I quickly realized I was about to fall. With a microphone in one hand, I couldn’t catch myself. I was confident I’d break a wrist or a hand if I tried to catch myself.

So, I just went with it and fell.

And because I studied martial arts for all of those years from Master Kim and Master Yang back at the Tae Kwon Do dojang, I knew how to fall without hurting myself.

I rolled onto my right shoulder toward Trudeau.

My feeling flew up absurdly high in the air.

«Oh Chad! Oh Chad! Oh Chad!» hollered my photographer, Robert Fetzer. «Chad!»

Trudeau stopped briefly. But I leaped to my feet after the roll, hoping he might say something about baseball.

I struck out. And Trudeau departed.

«But what tripped you?» they ask. «Were you all right?»

Physically, I was fine. Mentally, kind of garbled. I’ve worked daily at the U.S. Capitol for decades. I had a sneaking suspicion of what got me. Or better yet, who?

In the latter years of the 19th Century, Rep. William Taulbee, D-Ky., did not get along with reporter Charles Kincaid. Taulbee thought Kincaid wasn’t an honest broker, writing screeds about his personal affairs.

Taulbee was tall, towering over the diminutive Kincaid. Taulbee was known to sometimes physically pummel Kincaid.

Taulbee was out of federal office. But Kincaid knew Taulbee would be at the Capitol. Kincaid packed a pistol with him. And on Feb. 28, 1890, the reporter shot the Bluegrass Congressman square in the eye.

Taulbee leaked blood all the way down the House’s «Y» staircase, the plasma blending with marble. Through a miracle of chemistry, the splotches are still visible today.

The Kentucky Democrat succumbed to his injuries 11 days later.

It probably goes without saying that Taulbee does not like the congressional press corps. And, so, his phantasm is known to lurk around the Capitol.

Sometimes low bridging reporters on ornate staircases.

«What tripped you?» they ask.

And before I can answer, my inquisitors jump to a conclusion, albeit an interrogative one.

«Was it a ghost?» they giddily exclaim, like they had just figured out Final Jeopardy.

As I say, I have my theories. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.

But I don’t want to trip you up.

political, politics, justin trudeau

DALLAS — Democrats see a rare opening in Texas, and James Talarico is giving them their clearest shot in years at turning the state blue. If he pulls off the upset, the former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian could knock the first brick loose in Texas’ red wall.

The polling and fundraising figures help explain why Democrats see that possibility.

To put it in perspective, Talarico’s polling leads are wider than those recorded against Ted Cruz in 2018, when Beto O’Rourke came closer than any Democrat in decades to winning a Texas Senate race. And the enthusiasm on the ground from those who spoke with Digital backs up the numbers.

DEEP IN TRUMP COUNTRY, A NEW GENERATION REVEALS THE DIVIDE BEHIND TEXAS’ TIGHT SENATE RACE

What’s more, Talarico’s campaign raised $64 million from July through September, more than three times Trump-backed candidate Ken Paxton’s $18 million haul over the same period. Since launching his campaign, Talarico has raised more than $146 million.

But Paxton, currently the state’s attorney general, has enjoyed Republican outside groups pouring more than $200 million into Texas to support him, nearly all of it bankrolled by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Additionally, MAGA Inc., President Donald Trump’s principal super PAC, has spent another $33.7 million on ads backing Paxton, according to AdImpact.

At his Dallas rally on Thursday, Talarico underscored that divide by casting the race as a David and Goliath fight, telling supporters they were his weapon against powerful interests.

«David wasn’t as big or as strong as Goliath. He didn’t have as many weapons, but he had hope. He had faith, and he had a slingshot,» he said. «Dallas, you are my slingshot. The people of Texas are my slingshot.»

Talarico’s momentum has also shown up on the campaign trail.

Earlier this week, Talarico hopscotched across Texas, stopping in El Paso before holding events in Midland and Amarillo and drawing a larger-than-expected crowd in deep-red Lubbock on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Trump campaigned with Paxton about four miles away that same night, shifting his rally time so it overlapped with Talarico’s event.

The dueling rallies put the race’s divide on display. Talarico’s campaign said more than 4,000 people signed up for his Lubbock rally, prompting a move to a larger venue.

«I know that we’re not the only show in town tonight, and I appreciate all 4,000 of you that showed up here this evening,» Talarico said at the Fiesta Center in Lubbock on Oct. 27. «That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room.»

The Democratic candidate and his supporters have embraced the moniker «Talafreako,» a nickname first given to him as a derogatory dig by Republicans and President Trump.

Voters at Talarico’s rallies in Lubbock told Digital that Trump’s repeated Texas visits signaled Republican anxiety, while Paxton backers remained confident the state would stay red after a costly and contentious primary that saw Republicans divided over Paxton and sitting Sen. John Cornyn, who was ultimately ousted in the May runoff.

«Trump’s in Lubbock? Trump’s in Lubbock, Texas? He’s scared, he is scared,» one supporter told Digital.

Natalie, from Friona, called Trump’s same-day rally a sign Republicans were «nervous.»

«I think it’s performative, like to come the exact same day as he is here,» she said.

Jenny, from Brownsville, told Digital outside Trump and Paxton’s rally that the race was «not close» and she predicted that «Paxton will wipe the floor» with Talarico.

DUELING RALLIES THRUST DEEP-RED LONE STAR TOWN INTO THE CENTER OF THE POLITICAL UNIVERSE

Beyond the rally crowds, some Talarico supporters in Dallas and Lubbock said Paxton’s past legal controversies and impeachment by the Texas House shaped their views of the Republican nominee.

«We’re here in support of honesty, decency and integrity,» Lori, a Dallas voter who has voted Republican in the past, told Digital. «That’s what we like to see in a candidate, and we think Talarico is all that in one.»

George, a lifelong Texan at the Dallas rally, said years of watching Texas politics had become «heartbreaking» and called Talarico «a breath of fresh air.»

In Lubbock, Georgia cited several of Talarico’s policies and called him «authentic.» She also said his lack of an indictment was a plus, contrasting him with Paxton.

MEET THE VOTERS WHO COULD BREAK THE GOP’S DECADES-LONG GRIP ON A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD

Elias, a nurse from Lubbock, described Paxton as a weak leader.

«He had a chance to kind of redeem himself despite his ugly past, but he’s not a man, he can’t stand up for himself. He needs daddy Trump to come and support him.»

With Election Day on Nov. 3, the question is whether Talarico can turn rally crowds and a polling lead into a historic win. A victory would crack the GOP’s decades-long grip on Texas. A loss would leave Democrats still searching for a path to turn the state blue.

midterm elections, politics, texas, democrats senate, republicans elections, battleground voters