Sen. Tim Scott dodges on whether he would accept the results of the Alaska Senate race
Tim Scott calls Peltola campaign ‘immoral’ and ‘unethical’ amid Alaska ballot dispute02:57Get more newsonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleNov. 1, 2026, 10:19 AM ESTBy Megan Brand and Alexandra MarquezSen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., declined to say whether he would accept the results of the Alaska Senate race if Democrat Mary Peltola wins the battleground seat following a bombshell report from The New York Times about Democrats’ alleged efforts to recruit another Dan Sullivan to run.
Asked in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he would accept election results if Peltola is certified to have won the Senate seat, Scott did not directly answer the question.
“Dan Sullivan is going to win, Kristen,” he responded to moderator Kristen Welker. “You know that, and that’s the only thing I’m going to tell you because it’s the truth.”
Scott went on to criticize Democrats for allegedly working to recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent, a controversy that exploded last week following a report from The New York Times.
“What I can tell you about the truth is you can’t trust Mary Peltola’s campaign and the collusion between her campaign and the DSCC,” said Scott, who also serves as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP counterpart to the DSCC.
The New York Times on Wednesday reported that Democrats allegedly sought to recruit a candidate with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican. The report said that the efforts allegedly involved members of the Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the Senate.
Following the report, the DSCC said in a statement that it “is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.” Peltola, too, said she “knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.”
Asked a second time whether he would accept the election results, Scott dodged the question.
“Number one, Dan Sullivan, the real Dan Sullivan, will win,” said Scott. “And number two, it actually is a federal offense to confuse voters.”
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Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who was fired in August, participated in interviews with The New York Times, but later said she retracted “all statements made regarding the 2026 Alaska Senate race.”
Before The New York Times report was published, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in Alaska seeking to block the certification of the results of the Senate election if incumbent Sen. Sullivan loses the race. The DOJ cited potential voter confusion over having another candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
In the aftermath of the Times’ report, President Donald Trump has said that both Peltola and the challenger Sullivan should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.
On Thursday, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said that he was ordering a state investigation to determine whether the alleged “scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.”
Megan BrandMegan Brand is a politics reporter for NBC News.
Alexandra MarquezAlexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.
