Seth Kantner Argues The New York Times Botched Alaska Election Coverage

When Lower 48 News Outlets Miss the Mark on Alaska Politics

In a commentary published by the Anchorage Daily News, commercial fisherman and author Seth Kantner argues that a recent segment on The New York Times podcast The Daily fundamentally misunderstands Alaska politics while investigating U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola. Kantner contends that host Michael Barbaro and political reporter Kellen Browning overlooked major local context regarding decoy candidates, prison inmates on the ballot, and the stark realities of remote Arctic living.

Seth Kantner Argues The New York Times Botched Alaska Election Coverage

The critique centers on an episode where Barbaro and Browning examined allegations that Peltola, an Alaska Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, was involved in placing a decoy candidate on the ballot, specifically referencing retired schoolteacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Kantner writes that while the name overlap with incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan is curious and long known to Alaskans, the national reporting missed deeper, stranger dynamics already familiar to voters in the state.

Overlooked Ballots and Federal Prison Inmates

According to the Anchorage Daily News commentary, the national podcast failed to examine other peculiar entries on Alaska’s 2026 ballot. Kantner points out that Eric Hafner, a federal convict serving a 20-year sentence in New York who has never visited Alaska, is also running as a Democrat. Independent U.S. House candidate Bill Hill has reportedly had to spend campaign funds on advertisements clarifying Hafner’s incarceration status to prevent him from siphoning critical votes.

Furthermore, Kantner notes that Eric Hafner’s mother, Carol Kitty Hafner, has also appeared as a decoy candidate in state primaries. The essay questions why prominent national reporters zeroed in on Peltola’s race while ignoring a convicted felon from their own backyard appearing on a remote state’s election filings.

The Cost of Living and Local Skepticism

The Anchorage Daily News piece also takes issue with reporting on everyday economic hardships in the state. Kantner challenges Browning’s claim on the podcast that small Alaska communities face gasoline prices reaching $8 a gallon, stating that fuel prices along the upper Kobuk River actually sit at $26.80 a gallon.

Kantner argues that Lower 48 journalists frequently parachuted into the region for quick stories without doing adequate background checks. He highlights how Browning expressed surprise that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. warmly hosted the reporting team upon their arrival in Petersburg, portraying the local hospitality with unwarranted suspicion rather than recognizing ordinary Alaskan generosity.

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