There can be only one: Alaska tells duplicate Dan Sullivan he’s likely not making ballot
A top election official in Alaska is threatening to disqualify a U.S. candidate from the state’s August primary. The candidate has the same name and party affiliation as incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan, who is accusing the other Sullivan of being a Democratic plant to siphon away votes to aid challenger Mary Peltola.
As Straight Arrow previously reported, a new “Dan Sullivan” suddenly appeared in the race to unseat GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. He had a nearly identical campaign website URL and poster, with slight differences from Sen. Sullivan’s.
Ineligible to run
Now, Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher is threatening to have the new Dan Sullivan removed from the ballot. In fact, she says he’s ineligible.
In a letter to Sullivan — not the Senator, the other one — she said she’s received two complaints regarding his eligibility in the election. Those complaints resulted in investigations, one by the Alaska lieutenant governor, who requested sworn answers to specific questions.
Beecher said Sullivan responded to that request with a letter, but has determined “that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator.”
She went on to say Sullivan had until Thursday, June 10, to respond to complaints before the division makes its final determination on his eligibility.
Sullivan has previously commented on the investigations, saying, “The law forbids your office from denying me access to the ballot just because Senator Sullivan and the NRSC [National Republican Senatorial Committee] would prefer I not be allowed to run,” he said according to NBC News.
He said the investigation was “an unprecedented affront to my rights as a candidate and the rights of Alaska voters to select their own representation in the U.S. Senate.”
Controversy surrounding the Sullivans
Since the new Dan Sullivan announced his candidacy for Senate and officially filed to run, Republicans have accused Democrats of using the new Dan Sullivan as a tactic to win the election.
The race for Senate itself could determine which party controls Congress, so confusing Republican voters could benefit the Democratic leader in the race, former Congresswoman Mary Peltola.
In a statement to Straight Arrow, the National Republican Senate Campaign accused Peltola and Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., of “resorting to deceitful political maneuvers that attempt to trick Alaskans and buy a seat.”
Sullivan, the new one, denied the accusations, telling The Associated Press that the decision to run was “my choice.” He said he had no contact with the Peltola campaign.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that the “metadata” on challenger Sullivan’s May 29 press release announcing his candidacy “indicated it was written by someone by the name of ‘Amber Lee.’” A person by that same name is listed as a political action committee that supported Peltola’s previous runs for Congress, according to one of Senator Sullivan’s complaints.
Not the first time
This is not the first time candidates’ names have caused issues in an election. In 2024, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson addressed developments in the state’s governor’s race, where two people named Robert Ferguson joined the ballot.
They were both running as Democrats, alongside AG Ferguson, but received support from right-wing activist Glen Morgan.
AG Ferguson addressed their candidacy, calling it a “direct attack on our democracy and the integrity of the Washington state election system.”
According to KOMO News, they both filed on a Friday but dropped out by Monday, the same day Ferguson made his remarks.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
