A man who shares the same name and political party as Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan filed a legal challenge Monday, contesting a state elections official’s decision to pull him from the August primary ballot.
Attorneys for the challenger Sullivan argue in the court filing that the ruling by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher violates both state and federal law. They are asking that their client be restored to the ballot. The challenger has insisted all along that he is a legitimate candidate and that elections officials had no legal grounds to remove him.
His entry into the race — filed just days before the June 1 deadline — sparked sharp criticism from Sen. Sullivan and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Both called him a sham candidate and accused him of working in concert with Democrats to improve the chances of Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. Peltola’s campaign, state Democrats, and the challenger himself all denied those accusations.
Sen. Sullivan and Peltola rank as the highest-profile candidates in a crowded field of more than a dozen contenders. The race is considered one of the most significant U.S. Senate contests in this year’s midterm elections, with both parties viewing it as critical to controlling the chamber.
On June 15 — one week after Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced an investigation into the challenger’s candidacy — Beecher issued her disqualification ruling. She determined that his declaration of candidacy “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.”
When Dahlstrom launched the investigation, she pointed to what she described as “credible allegations” that the challenger filed his candidacy “in coordination with another candidate and campaign” with the goal of confusing and “manipulating” voters. However, when Beecher ultimately removed him from the ballot, she did not cite any evidence of coordination with Peltola or Democratic officials. The challenger himself, when asked directly whether he had been in contact with Peltola’s campaign, said “zero, none, zilch.”
Beecher said her decision rested on other grounds, including the fact that the challenger was registered to vote under the name Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and changed his party affiliation to Republican only when he entered the race. She also pointed to similarities between his campaign website and the senator’s, as well as his use of a political consultant who has worked with Democratic clients.
Congressional candidates in Alaska fill out a form indicating how they want their name to appear on the ballot and their preferred party affiliation.
Beecher said she acted under a regulation stating that a candidate’s name cannot appear on a ballot “in a manner that is confusing or misleading to voters or compromises the fairness or neutrality of the ballot,” including restrictions on academic or professional titles.
Legislative attorney Andrew Dunmire, responding to questions from Democratic state Rep. Andrew Gray, said the regulation Beecher cited does not actually prohibit placing the challenger’s name on the ballot. He suggested the elections division could instead design the ballot in a way that helps voters tell the two Sullivans apart.
Initially, the challenger had been certified and listed on the state candidate roster as Dan J. Sullivan, while the sitting senator appeared as Dan S. Sullivan with an incumbent designation.
Dunmire further stated his view that the division can only disqualify a congressional candidate if they fail to meet one of the three constitutional requirements for the office — those being age, residency, and citizenship.
Alaska uses an open primary system in which the top four finishers, regardless of party, move on to a ranked choice general election.
