Sanders Calls Alaska Ballot Scheme Unwise, Condemns GOP Attacks on El-Sayed on Election Eve
Photo: CBS NewsSen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, said Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, on "Face the Nation" that Democrats' alleged conduct in Alaska's Senate race was dumb but not illegal. He spoke from Burlington, hours before voters in 50 states went to the polls. Host Margaret Brennan asked about a New York Times report that Alaska Democrats recruited a retired schoolteacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., so his name would appear on the ballot and draw votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The Justice Department sued the state, but U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason ruled Sunday that it lacked standing. Democratic nominee Mary Peltola says she knew nothing of the effort, though an aide told the Times she did. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said Peltola should not be seated if she wins. Sanders also called remarks by Ted Cruz, President Trump, Vance and others about Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed disgusting and racist, and predicted El-Sayed would win. Sanders had hosted rallies for El-Sayed and Troy Jackson in Maine.
Right-leaning outlets split the interview. Breitbart leads with Sanders' denunciation of Republican rhetoric about El-Sayed, opens with Cruz, Trump and Bernie Moreno quotes, and uses Sanders' "appall every decent American" line in its headline. The Washington Examiner leads with Alaska, calling the conduct alleged, adding the Times report, the DOJ lawsuit and Gleason's ruling, and quoting Brennan on Sheehy and Peltola. The Hill matches the Examiner's Alaska focus. CBS's transcript opens with the election's stakes and Sanders' campaigning for Jackson, El-Sayed and Florida's Angie Nixon, and he criticizes billionaire wealth, citing Elon Musk. Its excerpt does not show the Alaska exchange. Both sides report Sanders' remarks on El-Sayed and Alaska, but each stresses a different part of the interview.
How the sides differ Right sources split between Sanders' Alaska ballot-stacking remarks and his El-Sayed racism charge; left source transcript covers his campaign push and billionaire theme; alternative matches Alaska focus.
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CBS News publishes the full interview transcript, opening with Brennan's election-eve framing, Sanders' campaign events for Democratic candidates and his criticism of billionaires' wealth, including Elon Musk's.
The Hill focuses on Sanders calling Democrats' Alaska actions pretty dumb, tied to a report that Mary Peltola's campaign was involved in a ballot-stacking scheme.
- Washington ExaminerBernie Sanders says alleged Democratic ballot-stacking in Alaska was ‘pretty dumb’
Breitbart foregrounds Sanders condemning Republican comments about Abdul El-Sayed, quoting Cruz, Trump and Moreno. The Washington Examiner leads with Sanders on Alaska ballot-stacking, adding the lawsuit, the judge's ruling and Sheehy's fraud claim.