A candidate bearing nearly the same name as sitting Sen. Dan Sullivan has drawn scrutiny in Alaska's Senate race, as Republicans and the Trump administration raise the alarm bells over the possibility of confusing voters.
asserted
Republicans → bear → voters
And although the Democrat in the race, Mary Peltola, has denied any involvement, new reporting from The New York Times details an alleged secret effort by people aligned with her campaign to help recruit the second Dan Sullivan.
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reporting → deny → Sullivan
The race between Sullivan and Peltola has appeared closer than initially expected in a state that President Trump won by double digits in 2024.
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Trump → appear → 2024
But the second Sullivan has added a wrinkle.
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Sullivan → add → wrinkle
Here's what to know about the Alaska Senate race:
How did two Dan Sullivans end up on the ballot?
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Sullivans → know → ballot
Alaska voted to change its election system in 2020, introducing a nonpartisan primary and a ranked-choice general election.
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Alaska → vote → primary
The unique system, which was first implemented in 2022, aimed to move the state away from party primaries in an attempt to stymie polarization.
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which → implement → polarization
Now, as Alaska voters head to the polls, they face four options for Senate, after the state held a
in August.
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state → head → August
The incumbent Sullivan — identified on the ballot as Dan S. Sullivan — is facing off against a candidate by nearly the same name, Daniel J. Sullivan, another Republican, Gerald Heikes, and his main competitor, Democrat Peltola.
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Sullivan → identify → name
Under Alaska's system, voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they'd like, rather than just selecting a single candidate.
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they → rank → candidate
If any candidate is the top choice for more than 50% of voters, they win.
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they → win → voters
If nobody wins an outright majority, the count goes to a second round and the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, with their supporters' votes redistributed to their second choice.
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votes → win → choice
The process continues until one candidate wins a majority.
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candidate → continue → majority
Daniel J. Sullivan came in third place in the primary, winning just 2.5% of the vote.
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Sullivan → come → vote
Peltola came in first, with 49.5%, followed by Sen. Sullivan, with 41.4%.
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Peltola → come → %
Daniel J. Sullivan is a retired teacher from rural Alaska.
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Sullivan → retire → Alaska
He announced in June that he was entering the race, prompting a push by the incumbent senator to remove him from the ballot, calling him a "sham candidate" attempting to trick voters.
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he → announce → voters
But Daniel J. Sullivan has denied those allegations, insisting that he is genuinely interested in running for Senate.
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he → deny → Senate
After the second Sullivan announced his bid, an Alaska election official determined in June that he was not eligible to appear on the ballot, citing a "determined effort and a deliberate attempt" to confuse Alaska voters.
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he → announce → voters
Elections Director Carol Beecher said at the time that Sullivan's entry into the race was not done 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."
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entry → say → fairness
Beecher noted that at one point, Daniel J. Sullivan tried to file as just "Dan Sullivan," despite never using that iteration of his name to vote, that he tried to list "S" as his middle initial — the same initial as the incumbent senator — and that the two campaign websites looked similar, suggesting a "deliberate" appropriation of Sen. Sullivan's campaign.
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websites → note → campaign
Beecher also said he initially asked to be listed as a Republican, but the state had no record of affiliation with the GOP.
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state → say → GOP
But the challenger appealed the decision, and a
Beecher's move to keep him off the ballot later that month, finding the state didn't have the power to decide whether a candidate is running in "good faith."
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candidate → appeal → faith
The state Supreme Court the decision days later, paving the way for both Sullivans' names to appear.
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names → pave → way
A sample ballot shows how the two Sullivans are listed, with Daniel J. Sullivan appearing first, as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.," with no party affiliation, and Sen. Sullivan appearing next, as "Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent."
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Sullivan → show → Incumbent
For Republicans, the ballot differentiation is the best-case scenario — although they would prefer the second Dan Sullivan not to appear on the ballot.
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Sullivan → prefer → ballot
But as Election Day has approached, the GOP has been efforting to make that distinction clear and prevent any confusion, reaching out to voters throughout the state, including with a radio jingle that says, "Dan S., Daniel, Gerry – just don't rank Mary!"
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that → approach → Mary
Reported campaign ties spur questions
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ties → report → questions
Republicans have claimed for months that Daniel J. Sullivan has ties to the Democratic Party.
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Sullivan → claim → Party
But after The New York Times reported that a Democratic operative who worked with Peltola's campaign and national Democrats helped encourage him to run, citing text messages and interviews, Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy
into the Peltola campaign.
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Gov. → report → campaign
"Today's New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska's elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes," Dunleavy wrote in a post on X.
Dunleavy said the Alaska Division of Elections investigated "these very concerns" earlier this year, adding that the new reporting "substantially supports the Division's findings."
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reporting → reveal → findings
He said he was directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate "whether this scheme violated Alaska's laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted."
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charges → say → laws
A spokesperson for Sen. Sullivan's campaign said in response to the Times' reporting that "Alaskans deserve the truth."
"Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along," Nate Adams said.
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Adams → say → scheme
The Times reported that the operative's work to encourage Daniel J. Sullivan to run appeared to be part of a wider effort to draw more candidates into the race.
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work → report → race
But Peltola's campaign has denied any involvement in getting Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot, and a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it "is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan."
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it → deny → Sullivan
Peltola called the reporting "just another distraction" at a campaign stop Wednesday.
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Peltola → call → stop
"This is all stuff to sell newspapers," she added.
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she → sell → newspapers
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has also argued that in the Senate primary and in prior elections, Republicans engaged in their own efforts to stack the Alaska ballot in order to help their preferred candidates.
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Republicans → argue → candidates
Trump administration intervenes
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administration → intervene → ?
The Times' report came after the Justice Department
last week to preemptively challenge the certification of Alaska's Senate race if Sen. Sullivan loses.
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Sullivan → come → race
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
