{"id":"1793381450321-news-segment","slug":"alaska-senate-spoiler-candidate-fight","title":"Alaska Senate Spoiler Candidate Fight","summary":"The New York Times reported that aides to Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola worked to recruit a second Dan Sullivan as a spoiler candidate; Peltola has denied knowing about it, and state and federal authorities are investigating. This is a podcast promotion from Reuters teasing a story about wealthy Californians and a ballot measure; it does not make a specific checkable claim. This appears to be an opinion/commentary video making dramatic assertions about Marco Rubio and the City of London; no specific factual claim is clearly stated.","publishedAt":"2026-10-30T17:30:50.321Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"The World","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: The New York Times reported that aides to Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola worked to recruit a second Dan Sullivan as a spoiler candidate; Peltola has denied knowing about it, and state and federal authorities are investigating. This is a podcast promotion from Reuters teasing a story about wealthy Californians and a ballot measure; it does not make a specific checkable claim. This appears to be an opinion/commentary video making dramatic assertions about Marco Rubio and the City of London; no specific factual claim is clearly stated.\nSource: [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/30/alaska-democrat-senate-mary-peltola-dan-sullivan) / [axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/ (https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2116219365360382264)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"The New York Times reported that aides to Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola worked to recruit a second Dan Sullivan as a spoiler candidate; Peltola has denied knowing about it, and state and federal authorities are investigating. This is a podcast promotion from Reuters teasing a story about wealthy Californians and a ballot measure; it does not make a specific checkable claim. This appears to be an opinion/commentary video making dramatic assertions about Marco Rubio and the City of London; no specific factual claim is clearly stated.","sourceName":"[theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/30/alaska-democrat-senate-mary-peltola-dan-sullivan) / [axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2116219365360382264","claim":"Just days before the key midterm election in Alaska, questions remain unanswered about Mary Peltola's possible involvement in the controversy surrounding Daniel J. Sullivan, a candidate who was reportedly recruited to run as a spoiler and siphon votes away from incumbent https://","author":"Fox News (@FoxNews)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2116219365360382264","name":"[theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/30/alaska-democrat-senate-mary-peltola-dan-sullivan) / [axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Fox News (@FoxNews)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793381450321-news-segment-alaska-senate-spoiler-candidate-fight","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793381450321-news-segment-alaska-senate-spoiler-candidate-fight","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793381450321-news-segment-alaska-senate-spoiler-candidate-fight and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Brian","text":"One week out from Alaska's Senate vote, there's a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot."},{"host":"Bella","text":"A second Dan Sullivan? That is not an accident."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fox News posted on X that Peltola's team is under scrutiny for recruiting him."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Their exact words: \"recruited to run as a spoiler and siphon votes away.\""},{"host":"Brian","text":"Daniel J. Sullivan is a retired teacher. The sitting senator is Republican Dan Sullivan."},{"host":"Bella","text":"So a voter could think they're voting for the incumbent and get the other guy."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's the whole point. And it may be working."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The Guardian and Axios both report her aides helped recruit him."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Peltola says she didn't know. Of course she says that."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Hold on. Her knowing is the difference between a dirty trick and a crime."},{"host":"Brian","text":"A candidate owns her staff. You don't get to say \"not my problem.\""},{"host":"Bella","text":"I'm not saying not her problem. I'm saying don't convict her before the investigation ends."},{"host":"Brian","text":"State and federal authorities are investigating. That alone tells you it's serious."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Serious enough. But the Fox post says \"possible involvement.\" Possible."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The Guardian says her aides did it. That's not possible, that's reported."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Aides, not the candidate. That's exactly my point."},{"host":"Brian","text":"If the culture came from her campaign, the candidate still answers for it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a fair political standard. But it's not the same as her ordering it."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fine. But a voter who picks the wrong Sullivan won't care about that distinction."},{"host":"Bella","text":"No, they won't. And that's why this is so damaging."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Look at you, agreeing with me."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Don't get used to it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Meanwhile, the BRICS parliamentary forum is reportedly underway in New Delhi."},{"host":"Brian","text":"AT World News says leaders from Brazil, China, and Russia are there."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the bloc often described as wanting to chip at the dollar and Western institutions."},{"host":"Bella","text":"India's hosting, but New Delhi still keeps one foot in the Western camp."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Exactly. Reportedly, they're talking trade corridors while buying Russian oil."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And China's there, which some will read as an anti-U.S. club."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The report isn't independently confirmed, but the meeting fits the direction."},{"host":"Bella","text":"More on that if official schedules line up."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Different world entirely: Xi Jinping is reportedly demanding loyalty as party purges trim the elite."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The Wall Street Journal report is making the rounds on X."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The account basically says China has 1.4 billion people, only 100 million in the party."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's one in every fourteen people under party discipline."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the account says most know it's been capitalist currencies for half a century."},{"host":"Brian","text":"I think the poster's arguing the party is a money machine, not an ideology."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's lazy. The party uses markets; it is still a police state."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But the purge point matters more. Xi is tightening loyalty inside the elite."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That tells me he's nervous. Purges at that level usually mean succession anxiety."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Or he's clearing out anyone who questioned his economic course."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Could be both. We'll see how much of the Journal's reporting holds up."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The pattern is familiar enough: loyalty oaths, removals, silence."},{"host":"Bella","text":"If Xi needs loyalty oaths, he doesn't have the loyalty."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And the world's second-largest economy still runs on that fear."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the line from Beijing."}]}