There can only be one Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
Alaska’s top election official ruled Monday that retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan is disqualified from running as a Republican against Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-Alaska) in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.
Dan J. Sullivan, 69, had filed to run just before the deadline, raising concerns that voter confusion over their two identical names could undermine Sen. Sullivan, 61, in Alaska’s unique top-four primary system.
“The preponderance of the evidence is that you chose this new nickname and party affiliation because that name and party affiliation happen to be the name and party affiliation of another candidate in the race,” Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher concluded in a letter to the retired teacher.
Beecher noted how the retired teacher from Petersburg appeared to have never registered to vote or sought ballot access under the name “Dan Sullivan.”
Instead, he used “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.”
“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,” Beecher further wrote in a letter to Dan J. Sullivan.
She noted how the teacher from Petersburg “initially emailed the Division asking to be listed on the ballot as ‘Dan S. Sullivan.’”
“‘S’ is Senator Sullivan’s middle initial, not yours.”
She also observed how he only became a Republican two days before filing, how his campaign website had some similar design language to that of Sen. Sullivan’s, and how he was working with a political consultant opposed to the incumbent senator, contending that he was not acting in “good faith.”
“[T]hese facts force the conclusion that your declaration of candidacy was filed with the purpose of confusing or misleading the electorate and compromising the fairness of the ballot by attempting to access the ballot under a version you have never used (‘Dan Sullivan’),” she wrote.
Beecher gave Dan J. Sullivan 30 days to appeal the decision and called the situation “unprecedented” in Alaskan political history.
The Post reached out to the campaign for comment.
“Every Alaskan has the right to a free and fair election, free from deception and gamesmanship,” Sen. Sullivan’s campaign manager Billy Mackey said in a statement.
Mackey blasted Dan J. Sullivan as “a sham candidate whose primary purpose was to confuse Alaskan voters, treat Alaskans with contempt, and rig the election for Peltola.”
Alaska has a unique primary system, where the top four contestants of any political party advance to the general election, which involves a ranked-choice voting scheme.
Alongside Maine, North Carolina, and Ohio, Alaska is widely seen as one of the Democrats’ top four Senate pickup opportunities of 2026.
Democrats have recruited former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), who held the state’s at-large congressional district from 2022 to 2025. Republicans barely managed to beat her in the 2024 election.
Sparse polling shows her neck-and-neck with Sen. Sullivan. Given Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, Republicans are concerned about his seat.
