JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska’s top elections official has determined that a U.S. Senate candidate who shares both the name and party affiliation of Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan cannot appear on the state’s August primary ballot.
Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher sent a letter to the challenger informing him that his candidacy filing “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 noted the challenger has the right to appeal her ruling, though she pointed out that ballots are scheduled to go to print on June 28.
A text message sent to the challenger Sullivan requesting comment went unanswered. He had previously indicated he expected to decide whether to file an appeal by early this week.
In a social media post on Sunday, the challenger wrote that he “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. It’s that simple.”
The situation has stirred up significant controversy surrounding one of the country’s most closely watched U.S. Senate contests — a race both major parties view as critical to determining control of the chamber.
The controversy began when the challenger filed his candidacy just days before the June 1 deadline. Senator Sullivan and fellow Republicans labeled him a “sham” candidate, alleging he was working in coordination with Democrats to improve the chances of Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. Both the challenger and Peltola’s campaign have rejected that claim.
Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced an investigation into the challenger’s candidacy a week ago, citing “credible allegations” that he filed “in coordination with another candidate and campaign” with the goal of confusing and “manipulating” voters.
The challenger, a retired teacher from the small southeastern Alaska fishing town of Petersburg, has maintained he acted properly and argued that Dahlstrom has no legal authority to remove him from the ballot. In a recent interview, he said he had been considering a run for years and described sharing a name with the senator as a “matter of fate.”
“The Lieutenant Governor’s job is to oversee elections fairly and impartially,” he said in a statement last week. “Instead, her actions create the impression that the state government is being used to protect an incumbent senator from facing competition at the ballot box.”
Senator Sullivan’s campaign manager, Billy Mackey, praised the decision by the lieutenant governor — who holds oversight responsibility for Alaska elections — saying it upheld the right to “a free and fair election.”
Senator Sullivan, running for a third term, and Peltola are the two highest-profile contenders in the crowded field and the only candidates who have reported raising any campaign funds. Democrats have identified the seat as a key target in their effort to reclaim the Senate majority.
On Friday, demonstrators gathered outside the Division of Elections office in Juneau to protest efforts to keep the challenger off the ballot. One of those protesters, Ben Muse of Juneau, suggested the situation could have been resolved simply by using middle initials to tell the two candidates apart, but said it had been “blown way out of proportion.”
“This has nothing to do with whether you support this guy as a candidate,” Muse said. “It’s supporting his right to be on the ballot.”
