Alaska’s top elections official ruled Monday that a challenger with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan will not appear on the state’s primary ballot. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Alaska’s top elections official ruled Monday that a primary challenger sharing the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan will not appear on the state’s ballot.
Director of Elections Carol Beecher wrote in a Monday letter to Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. that he would not appear on the primary ballot in August.
“On review of the complaints and other information in the Division’s possession, I conclude that your declaration of candidacy was not properly filed with the Division because it was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality,” Beecher wrote.
Alaska holds open primaries, with candidates from all parties appearing on the same ballot. The top four candidates then advance to the general election, which is conducted with a ranked-choice ballot.
Republicans accused the challenger of being a Democratic plant intended to siphon votes away from the incumbent to benefit the Democratic challenger, former Rep. Mary Peltola.
Peltola’s campaign denied any involvement in Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.’s campaign.
Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom opened an investigation into the Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. campaign last week.
Beecher’s letter pointed out that the challenger had initially attempted to register for the ballot under the name “Dan S. Sullivan,” using the incumbent’s middle initial, and the design of his campaign website is suspiciously similar to that of Sen. Sullivan.
The director of elections also cited the fact that Daniel J Sullivan Jr., a former teacher and political newcomer, was not affiliated with the state Republican Party until seeking office.
Daniel J. Sullivan, who said he was previously affiliated with the Alaskan Independence Party, has not yet responded publicly to being stricken from the ballot, but he defended his candidacy Friday on social media.
“I am a qualified candidate who followed the rules and filed to run for office under my legal name. Yet, unsupported accusations have been given credibility while political operatives continue their effort to keep me off the ballot. Alaskans have every reason to ask whether this process is being driven by politics rather than by a fair application of the law,” he wrote.
He has 30 days to appeal Dahlstrom’s decision, but the ballots for the August primary are scheduled to be printed June 28.
