The Blue Room — Episode 2: Alaska’s Two Sullivans

Wonka Welcome back to the Blue Room, where I’m told the guest list has been rearranged. [applause]

• Shelby Spinner is a proud MAGA mama bear. She has brought her own talking points and, I believe, a spare set for anyone who needs them. [laughter]
• Margo Bell has been right about three elections and wrong about four, and framed all seven beautifully. [laughter]
• Dale Truitt, formerly of overnight radio, believes tonight’s subject is connected to something larger, and has a map. He may be right. He may also be holding it upside down.
• Walt Dunning, retired actuary, has read the fine print on the studio lease and found it wanting. [a long pause] He has also read mine.

Wonka Tonight’s subject comes in twos. Alaska now has the only Senate race where “which Dan?” is a fair follow-up question. A few slides first.

1. The ballot. Two Dan Sullivans: the incumbent senator, a Republican, and a second candidate listed as unaffiliated. Primary: Peltola 48%, the senator 43%, the other Sullivan 2%.

2. The suit. Oct 22–23: the Justice Department asks a court to block certification if the senator loses, citing voter confusion. Trump said he ordered it. [1]

3. The report. A New York Times story says Democratic aides helped recruit the second Sullivan. Peltola says she knew nothing. [6][7]

4. The court. A judge fast-tracked the case. The state wants it dismissed. No ruling as of Oct 31. [2][3]

5. The probes. The governor and a House committee have opened investigations. [8]

Wonka Margo, you open. Shelby has been spoken to, and has taken it very well. [laughter]

Shelby I took it beautifully, Wonka. As a mom, I just want to—

Wonka Margo.

Margo Let me start with what the Times reports. Texts between Democratic Senate Campaign Committee aides and Peltola’s staff over months. Her former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, told the paper Peltola wasn’t directly involved but was “definitely aware,” and then asked to retract. The campaign and the committee deny recruiting anyone. Peltola called it “offensive” and said she’d be “happy to fire” her former manager again. I’d also say “Decoy Dan” is a brand. It’s shorter than any correction.

Shelby Wonka, as a mom, this is simple. Democrats put a decoy on the ballot to trick Alaskans, the Justice Department is doing its duty, and—

Walt Who says Democrats put him there?

Shelby —the New York Times says so, Walt, and I’d think you’d believe them. Decoy Dan. Decoy Dan.

Dale I’ll connect what I can. Months of texts. The same operative introduced to two senior staffers. An idea for a “MAGA Party” that never happened. A manager who talks and then tries to take it back. If a Republican campaign had those texts, you’d read them aloud. [a few groans, a few cheers] But none of those texts, as reported, is from Peltola. She’s not on the thread. The link to her is one former employee’s one word, “aware,” which she then tried to withdraw.

Wonka The cleanest account of the evidence so far, and he’s the conspiracist. [laughter] Margo, where does the law stand?

Margo The state Supreme Court ruled in June that both Sullivans could appear, and state courts found nothing illegal in his candidacy, even if it wasn’t in good faith. The judge seems skeptical of DOJ’s timing—

Wonka Margo, that’s a read. Here’s the record: DOJ’s theory is a voter-registration law, which the state says doesn’t reach this. The suit is conditional; it asks for action only if the senator loses.

Shelby Wonka, forget the lawsuit for a second. Whoever put him there, a voter in a hurry sees “Dan Sullivan” twice. That’s a design problem and the state could fix it. Why is nobody up here saying the ballot should carry “incumbent” for both or neither?

Walt That’s a fair design critique. It’s also a different claim from the lawsuit. The reporting says his line carries no modifiers and the incumbent’s says “registered Republican” and “incumbent.” The state listed him as unaffiliated to reduce confusion.

Wonka Yes, and. Shelby, that is the best argument on the table for a confusion remedy, and it belongs to the ballot designers, not the judge. [a few cheers]

Shelby Thank you. I’d like that written on my palm.

Walt Does anyone have a count of how many of the 2% meant the other one? No survey. And the mechanics point is Wonka’s.

Wonka Mine, not a source’s: Alaska uses ranked-choice voting. A voter who mistakenly ranks the other Sullivan first but the senator second still sees that vote go to the senator once the other Sullivan is eliminated. Confusion only costs him a voter who ranked no one else. That doesn’t prove confusion is harmless. It means the harm is narrower than the headline.

Wonka A ballot is a very small document asked to do a very big job. Walt, if you had to be one of the Dans, which one?

Walt The one with the better documentation.

Dale For the record, the string is on the table. It’s not attached to anything yet. Whichever Dan wins, I’ll still be holding the map. [laughter]

Walt I have some arithmetic. In the primary, Peltola got 48, the senator 43, the other Sullivan 2. Give the senator every one of those 2 and he’s at 45. It doesn’t close the gap. November may be different, but that’s the primary.

Shelby Walt, with all respect, a primary is not a general—

Walt I said November may be different.

Shelby —and a gap is not a gap until the votes are counted. [laughter]

Wonka So the other Dan, Dan Sullivan the Second—

Walt Daniel J.

Wonka I had a fifty-fifty chance and took the wrong half. [laughter]

Dale Folks, we have a caller from Juneau who says there are two of them and one of them is a ghost.

Wonka Dale.

Dale Not literally. But I’m keeping an open mind about the basement. [laughter]

Margo Okay, let me walk you through the order of events, because the order is the story. Step one: Oct 22 or 23, DOJ sues. Step two: less than a week later, the Times reports on the recruitment. The suit came first. Whatever you think of the Times story, the lawsuit didn’t wait for it. Step three: Oct 29, DOJ amends its complaint to say the campaign misled the judge. So the story got folded in afterward. That’s not proof of anything. It’s just the order.

Shelby Fine, Wonka, the suit came first. I’ll give you that. But as a mom I know what a timeline looks like when it’s been tidied.

Wonka It’s a good instinct to distrust a tidy timeline. It’s also a very tidy timeline. [laughter]

Wonka New rule: if your defense is “I knew nothing,” it helps to know who knew something. [a few groans from the left] And if your prosecution relies on a second Dan, it helps to be sure which one you’re prosecuting. [a few groans from the right]

Margo And DOJ wants to “segregate” the second Sullivan’s ballots. The state’s attorneys called that “not even possible,” because they’re commingled and it would break privacy. Both probes are open. What’s missing from this story is a neutral referee.

Shelby Peltola lied, and—

Wonka Which she denies, and one of her former aides said something different, and then took it back. It needs a court.

Shelby The court will say what the American people already know. [scattered applause, scattered groans]

Verdict

Documented:

• Two Sullivans are on the ballot; the state Supreme Court ruled in June that both may appear.
• DOJ sued Oct 22–23, Trump said he ordered it, and the suit is conditional on the senator losing. DOJ amended it Oct 29 and issued about three dozen subpoenas to both campaigns. [1][4]
• The state says segregating the ballots is “not even possible.” [4]
• A federal judge fast-tracked dismissal and had not ruled as of Oct 31. [2][3]
• The Times reported texts between Democratic committee and Peltola-campaign staff; Rios said Peltola was “definitely aware” and asked to retract (via secondary reports). [6]
• Peltola and the committee deny recruiting; the governor and a House committee have opened probes. [7][8]

Disputed:

• Whether Peltola’s campaign or the committee recruited him.
• Whether Peltola herself knew.
• Whether voter confusion would change any result, and how many voters.
• Whether the ballot layout was an intentional tilt (Shelby’s design critique stands as a fair question).

Unsupported:

• That DOJ has legal authority to block certification (the state and Peltola’s campaign say no; no ruling yet). [5]
• That “every voter who picked the wrong Dan” was cheated (no survey of voter intent).
• That any reported text shows Peltola herself directing the plan.

Audience reactions

Three people from the audience, asked on the way out. Invented and representative.

• A commercial fisherman, row 5: “The ranked-choice point was news to me. If I put the wrong Dan first, I’d still get a second choice. That changes how bad ‘confusion’ sounds.”
• A county poll worker, on the aisle: “Everyone said ‘decoy.’ Nobody said what it would take to prove it. I’d have wanted that settled before the election.”
• A teenager in the back, to her mother: “Is the host always like this?” “Yes.”

Tag: Wonka, rising, to nobody in particular: “Two of them. And the one that’s real is the one on the ballot.” Then, more quietly: “Probably.”

Since taping: nothing yet. Next time: Wednesday, who certifies the results. Spot an error? The notes below are the place to check it.

Notes and links

1. CNBC, Oct 23.
2. CNBC, Oct 26; Democracy Docket (D-aligned).
3. Alaska Beacon, Oct 27; The Hill.
4. CNBC, Oct 29; CNBC, Oct 30; Anchorage Daily News, Oct 31.
5. Election Law Blog on the voter-registration-law theory.
6. CNBC, Oct 28 on the Times report (the Times piece itself not read).
7. ABC News on Peltola’s denial.
8. CBS, the governor’s probe; TNND, House Oversight (not read).

The Blue Room is a fictional late-night political talk show, written by Claude, an AI, as political satire. The host and guests are invented comic archetypes, not real people, and nothing a character says is the site author’s opinion. What is documented, disputed or unsupported is sorted at the end of each episode, with sources in the notes. Seats: Bill Wonka (host), Shelby Spinner, Walt Dunning, Dale Truitt, Margo Bell. From search summaries and the election-watch tracker (rows 1 and 1a). Not opened: the Times report and the court filings. The ranked-choice point is Wonka’s own reasoning, not a source’s.

Last serviced Sunday, November 1, 2026