Days before the New York Times published its Sept. 23 article about how Mary Peltola has allegedly mistreated and abused the people who work for her, a Rasmussen survey showed she enjoyed overwhelming support from Alaska’s Democrats.

With just six weeks left before the Nov. 4 election, it remains to be seen whether Peltola can keep this base together in what is likely to be a very tight race against U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Rasmussen’s Sept. 13–14 survey of 1,188 Alaska likely voters showed Peltola tied with Sullivan at 39% each. Among Democrats, however, Peltola commanded 73% of voters compared to the 59% of Republicans who favored Sullivan. The survey also found that 15% of Democrats backed Sullivan and 18% of Republicans supported Peltola.

Among “unaffiliated” voters, the Rasmussen survey showed the race as razor-close, with 36% favoring Sullivan and 34% behind Peltola.

For Peltola to win, she needs to keep Democrats from abandoning her in the wake of disturbing allegations about how she treats her staff members.

In the primary, Peltola beat Sullivan 49.5% to 41.4%. Whether she can retain that advantage in the wake of the recent NYT article remains to be seen.

The NYT article by Kellen Browning was based on detailed interviews with nine former staff members, along with others connected to Peltola’s campaign. The article drew off hundreds of damaging images and texts that characterize the former U.S. Congresswoman as prone to angry emotional outbursts, derogatory slurs, high staff turnover and a text in which she wished one person “dies of a botched abortion.” She also allegedly belittled a staffer by calling them a “faggot” and referred to a fisheries leader as “retarded.”

Peltola has, so far, refused to comment on the article directly, and Alaska’s Democratic leadership has not publicly defended her. Instead, her campaign has claimed the article is exaggerated, while issuing a statement that Peltola regrets using the word “retarded.” It also denies that she used the word “faggot.”

Additionally, Peltola’s camp claims the allegation that she shoved an aide in the chest was really just an accidental bump.

Nevertheless, Peltola’s camp has undeniably suffered from high staff turnover. Just days before the recent Aug. 18 state primary, she fired or demoted a host of staffers.

In the primary, Peltola beat Sullivan 49.5% to 41.4%. Whether she can retain that advantage in the wake of the recent NYT article remains to be seen.

The Nov. 4 election pits Peltola against three Republicans: Sen. Dan Sullivan and two lesser candidates – Daniel Sullivan Jr. and Gerald Heikes.

Daniel Sullivan Jr. claims to be a Republican but has backed Peltola in the past. Republicans see him as a spoiler who hopes to use the fact that he shares a first and last name with Sen. Sullivan to siphon off votes for the sitting senator and thereby help Peltola. He’s been dubbed “Decoy Dan” by Republicans. The Rasmussen survey had him at 7%.

Heikes claims to be a conservative, but he’s been backed by wealthy left-wing outside spenders who appear to support him in order to weaken Sullivan, not because they support Heikes platform. According to the Rasmussen survey, he was pulling 6% off the vote.

Combined, the lesser Republican candidates represent about 13% of the vote.

Essentially, Sen. Sullivan is running against Peltola and two candidates that Democrats hope will siphon votes away from the Sullivan camp through mistakenly marked ballots for “Decoy Dan” or because they think Heikes is more conservative, despite having no chance of winning.

The Nov. 4 election will be done using Alaska’s controversial ranked-choice voting. If neither Sullivan nor Peltola wins more than 50% of the vote in the first round of counting, the fourth-place candidate will be eliminated, and all his second-choice votes will go to the remaining candidates. This process continues until one candidate has more than 50%, or has more votes than the other remaining candidate in the final round.

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