Overview
- During Thursday’s televised Anchorage debate Mary Peltola repeatedly consulted large notecards while answering questions, and Sen. Dan Sullivan asked moderators whether questions had been provided in advance, which the moderators denied.
- Republican operatives and the NRSC circulated video of Peltola reading from cards to argue she relied on scripts or outside handlers, while Peltola said her notes showed she was simply better prepared.
- Sullivan used the debate to again raise reporting that former Peltola staffers accused her of angry outbursts, and Peltola called those claims outright fabrications or mass exaggerations.
- A separate ballot dispute over a second candidate named Dan J. Sullivan remains active after an Alaska Superior Court judge overturned the Division of Elections’ disqualification, leaving two similarly named candidates on the November ballot.
- The debate also covered policy issues including Iran, energy costs and ties to President Trump, and the notecard episode is likely to shape late advertising and social media messages as both sides try to sway undecided voters.