A Republican candidate named Dan Sullivan who’s challenging GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan for a Senate seat in Alaska has been deemed ineligible for this year’s primary by a top state elections official.
In a letter Monday, Alaska’s Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher told the challenger that his candidacy “was not filed in good faith for the purpose of genuinely pursuing election as Alaska’s U.S. Senator.”
Beecher added that his declaration to run for the office was “filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”
The Division of Elections received two complaints from the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, Beecher said, about Sullivan’s eligibility to run for senator. She said she gave the candidate until the evening of June 11 to respond to the complaints and defend himself but did not receive additional information or evidence.
Beecher went on to say that Sullivan had requested ballot access under the name “Dan Sullivan” even though he’s only registered to vote under the name “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” She said that the move suggested he was seeking to create confusion “with another candidate in the race, the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, rather than distinguish yourself from him.”
“Indeed, you yourself appeared to be confused when you initially emailed the Division asking to be listed on the ballot as ‘Dan S. Sullivan,’” she added. “‘S’ is Senator Sullivan’s middle initial, not yours.”
She also said that election records show he had never been affiliated with the Republican Party until two days before he declared his candidacy for senator.
Beecher also noted that his campaign website uses a format and color scheme very similar to the site belonging to the senator and that he has admitted working with a political consultant who’s “a known longtime supporter of Democratic candidates.”
The campaign for the disqualified Sullivan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In a Facebook post Sunday, he wrote: “Should every American be allowed to run for any political office if they are qualified? Should a candidate’s chances of winning an election disqualify them from trying? Should a person’s given name be a qualifier to be on a ballot? To me it’s not complicated. I met the qualification and I entered this race because I am unhappy with the 12 year record of the current Senator and I feel we need a change.”
He has 30 days to appeal the decision, though ballots are being printed June 28, Beecher said.
Sen. Sullivan’s re-election campaign celebrated his challenger’s disqualification in a statement Monday.
“Every Alaskan has the right to a free and fair election, free from deception and gamesmanship,” said campaign manager Bill Mackey.
Sen. Sullivan this month accused his main Democratic opponent in Alaska, Mary Peltola, and Democrats in Washington of recruiting the other Sullivan. A spokesperson for Peltola’s campaign, Harry Child, denied earlier this month that the campaign was involved “with either Sullivan campaign.”
Afterward, Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom notified the other Sullivan’s campaign that the state had opened an investigation into his candidacy. The lieutenant governor’s office oversees the Division of Elections.
In his statement about the Sullivan disqualification, Mackey thanked Dahlstrom for “ensuring Alaskans can choose their next senator without a sham candidate whose primary purpose was to confuse Alaskan voters, treat Alaskans with contempt, and rig the election for Peltola.”
Alaska operates under a ranked-choice voting system in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the November general election. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 18.
