EXCLUSIVE — CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss faced "significant resistance" from staff at Thursday's 9 a.m. meeting about the growing Alaska ballot controversy, network insiders told Fox News Digital.

"This is a scandal," Weiss declared to staff.

According to multiple sources on the call, several CBS News staffers pushed back at Weiss' enthusiasm over the bombshell New York Times report alleging Democrats schemed to find a Dan Sullivan to run against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, in hopes of aiding Democratic opponent Mary Peltola.

DEM STRATEGIST SHRUGS OFF ALASKA BALLOT SCANDAL ON MS NOW, INSISTS 'THIS STUFF HAPPENS ALL THE TIME'

Many on the call shrugged it off as routine politics and said Republicans have also engaged in similar scheming.

When Weiss asked for other examples of ballot confusion, "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan reportedly pointed to New Hampshire Senate candidate John Sununu, suggesting that midterm voters might confuse him with his brother, former Gov. Chris Sununu.

ALASKA'S GOVERNOR ODERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME

CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe also insisted that such tactics are nothing new. Earlier that morning, during his appearance on "CBS Mornings," O'Keefe stressed to viewers that what happened in Alaska "could be a dirty trick, but it's not illegal," adding that "this has happened before, kind of." He pointed to the 2016 Alaska Senate race when former Anchorage mayor Dan Sullivan — no relation to the U.S. Senator of the same name — briefly ran against incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the GOP primary, hoping "name recognition" of the other sitting senator would help his own candidacy.

A separate CBS staffer on the call pushed back against the notion that colleagues like Brennan and O'Keefe were trying to downplay the scandal, telling Fox News Digital they were providing context to the story being discussed.

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

The staffer also said the meeting was never contentious and that it was a "healthy, good conversation."

Still, Weiss called the uproar in Alaska a "great story" that the network should follow and urged staff to push for stories like the one The New York Times broke, calling it a "learning moment."

A spokesperson for CBS News declined to comment.

Republicans have long been suspicious about the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who is among four Senate candidates listed on Alaska's rank-choice ballot. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent senator loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome.

On Wednesday, The New York Times alleged his candidacy was no coincidence.

"In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can," the Times began its report Wednesday. 

"The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state. ... [I]f the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot. The plan worked," the report said.

SEN DAN SULLIVAN BRANDS PELTOLA'S ALLEGED BALLOT SCHEME A 'SCANDAL AT THE HIGHEST ORDER'

According to Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, Peltola was not directly involved in the scheme but was "definitely aware."

Peltola's campaign has denied involvement in his candidacy.

"But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader," the Times reported. "The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory."

Peltola called the Times report a "distraction" and "stuff to sell newspapers." However, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into whether any crimes or civil violations were committed.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrat Annie Andrews neck-and-neck with Republican incumbent, Darline Graham, sister to Lindsey Graham

• US politics live – latest updates

A US Senate race in one of the most Republican states in the country is now a dead heat, according to a new poll showing Annie Andrews, a Democrat, tied with Darline Graham, the Republican incumbent senator.

South Carolina has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998, and Donald Trump won it by nearly 18 points in 2024, but a New York Times/Siena poll this week has the two candidates neck and neck, at 48% each.

Caroline Voaden says Reform UK leader grabbed her by the arm and tried to push past her in incident in May

A female Liberal Democrat MP has accused Nigel Farage of shoving her aside at the state opening of parliament after which one of her male colleagues intervened.

Caroline Voaden gave her account of the incident in May this year after Farage revealed on Wednesday that there had been a “physical altercation” in parliament which meant he had decided to avoid the budget.

The fiance of Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. has come out and said he cannot vote for Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, believing he is an antisemite.

Stevens, though, remains undaunted, backing the candidate for Senate. Jason Turkish, a Jewish registered Democrat, told The Detroit News he will be voting for Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, appearing at a Rogers event sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition on Wednesday night at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan.

"I waited, and I watched and I listened for Abdul to moderate – but he didn't moderate, he escalated," Turkish, a Michigan lawyer himself, told reporters on the sidelines of that event in a video published by The Detroit News.

FORMER RIVAL DODGES FULL-THROATED EL-SAYED ENDORSEMENT AFTER BITTER SENATE PRIMARY

"He's gotten worse, and worse and worse as this general election campaign has gone on. Rather than bringing people together, he's just driven them further and further apart."

Despite Turkish's concerns, Stevens has not backed down from her support for the Democrat who defeated her in a closely fought primary this summer.

HALEY STEVENS RIPPED BY FELLOW DEMS FOR REFUSING TO EXPLICITLY BACK EL-SAYED: 'STAY THE F--- OFF TELEVISION'

"Like a lot of households across America, we're a house divided," Stevens told CNN.

"I still very much want our Democratic nominee, his name is Abdul, to win this race," she said. "There's so much on the line."

BLACK VOTERS, JEWISH DEMOCRATS IN MICHIGAN WARY OF VOTING FOR EL-SAYED, SAY 'HE'S TAKING ADVANTAGE'

Turkish says El-Sayed's anti-Israel rhetoric makes his community "less safe," fearing his party will bend to radicals claiming that there is a "genocide" in Gaza.

"When he says genocide over and over again, when he refuses to condemn an ad that says Jews are to blame for the price of bananas, he makes my community less safe," Turkish said. "He makes a lot of communities less safe."

WEAPONIZING THE CHARGE OF GENOCIDE FUELS AN INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS ANTISEMITISM

El-Sayed is a longtime critic of Israel, calling the war in Gaza a "genocide." Israel argues that it is fighting terrorists that are using Gaza civilians as human shields, taking efforts to avoid civilian casualties, such as notifying people and telling them to evacuate buildings before conducting strikes.

"Every time he talks about genocide, Jews get death threats," Turkish added. "We have never seen a candidate for U.S. Senate act so recklessly toward the safety of Jews in the community as we have seen from Abdul."

EL-SAYED TRIES TO MAKE PEACE WITH JEWISH DEMOCRATS BUT DRAWS LINE AT DUMPING HASAN PIKER

Turkish rebuked the candidate's ties to California streamer Hasan Piker, and El-Sayed's refusal to distance himself from someone he had said America deserved 9/11.

"I watch him in recent weeks as he has become verbally combative with any reporter who has the gall, as he sees it, the gall to ask him about Hasan," Turkish said.

MICHIGAN SENATE RIVALS CLASH OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ALLEGATIONS AS ROGERS DOUBLES DOWN ON EL-SAYED

"Everything we hear from Abdul El-Sayed includes equivocation, and it includes equivocations to try to explain away hate, and there is no explaining away hate. And I predict to you that Michigan will reject this."

Turkish, a Democratic donor who has also given to some Republicans, described his decision as "putting country before party."

EL-SAYED, ROGERS CLASH OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, TRUMP AND GUNS: 5 FIERY DEBATE MOMENTS

"This is not someone we can let into the United States Senate," Rogers said of El-Sayed at his Wednesday night campaign event, making no mention of Turkish's vote in his stump remarks. "If you don't know Iran is our enemy and you can't condemn a Hezbollah-inspired attack, you have no business being in the United States Senate."

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Turkish is the second major figure from Stevens’ orbit to back Rogers in recent days. Her former campaign chair, attorney David Kramer, said Tuesday he also plans to vote for Rogers. Stevens endorsed El-Sayed after the primary but has not campaigned or appeared with him publicly since a unity breakfast shortly afterward.

Republican Mike Dunleavy plans search after Peltola accused of recruiting Dan Sullivan to confuse voters

The Republican governor of Alaska announced plans to launch a criminal investigation after a report accused the campaign of the Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola of trying to confuse voters by recruiting a candidate with the same name as her opponent.

Governor Mike Dunleavy wrote on social media that he was “directing the department of public safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted”.

With less than a week until Election Day, both parties are making a final push to shape the fight for control of Congress.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are rallying Republicans across the country, while former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris are campaigning for Democrats.

The map traces their campaign stops so far this month, with states visited by both sides shaded gray. 

Trump has been on the campaign trail nearly every day this month, visiting states from Oklahoma to Florida. 

He said in early October he planned to hold five to seven rallies a week, a pace he maintained last week with stops in Corinth, Mississippi; Corpus Christi and Lubbock, Texas; and Chillicothe, Ohio.

His schedule continues this week, with rallies planned in South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa.

HIGH PRICES PUT TRUMP’S ECONOMY IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS THE GOP FIGHTS TO HOLD CONGRESS

The map tracks campaign travel, not a ranking of the most competitive races. Still, the stops show both parties deploying high-profile surrogates in states where control of Congress could be decided.

Ohio, Texas and Iowa have competitive Senate contests. Recent Cook Political Report polling showed Democratic candidates narrowly ahead in all three, while Michigan is also a key Senate battleground. 

REPUBLICANS JUST GOT A POWERFUL NEW PLAYBOOK FOR THE BATTLE FOR CONGRESS. HERE'S WHAT'S INSIDE.

Obama and Harris have campaigned in several states with closely watched contests. Obama stumped in Ohio and Michigan, while Harris made recent stops in Nevada, Mississippi and New Hampshire to support Democratic candidates. 

Their visits show Democrats leaning on familiar national figures to boost candidates ahead of Election Day.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The map tracks campaign travel, not a formal ranking of battlegrounds, but offers a snapshot of where both parties are focusing their efforts before Nov. 3.

This live blog is now closed.

• Alaska governor orders investigation into Peltola’s Senate campaign

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

With days until the midterm elections, a new poll from CNN places Democrats well in the lead in key Senate races in Texas and Michigan, while projecting tighter contests in Kansas and Maine.

In Texas, the poll found 49% of likely voters would back James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, over Republican Ken Paxton, who netted just 43%.

Elizabeth Warren and others joined by unions and industry experts in warning against the weakening of regulations

The senator Elizabeth Warren, the congresswoman Ilhan Omar and several other Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) to abandon a rollback of respirator mask regulations, a change the lawmakers say would weaken worker protections against hazardous substances.

Under the proposed rules, employers would face fewer requirements to provide workers with respirators masks when working with substances including “lead, asbestos, formaldehyde and inorganic arsenic, among other chemicals”, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Osha assistant secretary, David Keeling, a former UPS and Amazon executive.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that reporting that Democrats attempted to recruit a spoiler Dan Sullivan to try to take votes away from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) “is much ado about nothing and

The post Booker: Dems Stacking Ballot in Alaska with Fake Dan Sullivan ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-MI) fiancé says he will vote for Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate election, accusing Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed of using rhetoric that puts Jewish residents at risk.

The post ‘Putting Country Before Party’: Haley Stevens’ Fiancé Backs Mike Rogers over El-Sayed appeared first on Breitbart.

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod chalked up Wednesday's revelations about an alleged Democratic scheme to influence Alaska's Senate race as something that "happens all the time," comparing it to Republican support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential bid against then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 election cycle.

The New York Times published a bombshell report alleging that Democratic operatives recruited a man named Dan Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, potentially aiding his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Mary Peltola.

Appearing on an MS NOW panel, Elrod was quick to shrug off the controversy.

PELTOLA CAMPAIGN'S ALLEGED DAN SULLIVAN SPOILER PLOT TAKES NEW TURN AS DOJ FACES MAJOR LEGAL HURDLE

"Some of this stuff happens all the time," Elrod reacted. "Let's not forget that ... RFK Jr., when he ran against Joe Biden, Republicans propped him up, a lot of Trump donors were giving him money because they thought he would dig into some of Biden's supporters. And then he ran as an independent. They thought he would draw away supporters from Biden. It actually had the opposite effect.

"The bottom line is this stuff happens all the time. There are tactics that both campaigns can use. ... It is very clear, as you mentioned, who is the incumbent. So, if you're a Republican or any voter in Alaska, and you want to support the incumbent, you know who you're voting for," Elrod added noting she hadn't read the Times report.

MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander said the "funny business" involving Democrats in Alaska was "not illegal" and pointed out that the Republican senator is listed as "incumbent" on the ballot, which he argued undermined the Trump administration's concerns about voter confusion.

SCHIFF ACCUSES DOJ OF TRYING TO 'SUBVERT' ELECTIONS AS GOP ALLEGES SAME-NAME CANDIDATE MEANT TO CONFUSE VOTERS

Republicans have long been suspicious about the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who is among four Senate candidates listed on Alaska's rank-choice ballot. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent senator loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome.

"In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can," the Times began its report Wednesday. 

"The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state. ... [I]f the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot. The plan worked."

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST MEDIA AND CULTURE NEWS

According to Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, Peltola was not directly involved in the scheme but was "definitely aware."

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy," the Times wrote.

"But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory."