Photo via NBC News

Dan Sullivan endorses Dan Sullivan to beat Dan Sullivan in perplexing Alaska Senate race

Read the original at NBC News ↗
Cite

Uribe, R. C. (2026, August 24). Dan Sullivan endorses Dan Sullivan to beat Dan Sullivan in perplexing Alaska Senate race. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/dan-sullivan-endorses-dan-sullivan-beat-dan-sullivan-perplexing-alaska-rcna594063

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

NBC News · collected 2026-08-24 · by Raquel Coronell Uribe

Quick Summary

Alaska's Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan received an endorsement from Dan A. Sullivan, the former mayor of Anchorage and fellow Republican, in his re-election bid against Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and another candidate with the same name, Dan J. Sullivan. According to preliminary primary vote results, Peltola leads with 48% of the vote, followed by Sen. Dan S. Sullivan at 43%. The Alaska Senate race is considered a tossup, with Democrats viewing it as an opportunity to flip control in November.
Written by AI on 2026-08-24, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In Alaska's nonpartisan primary election, two Dan Sullivans, a Republican U.S. Senator and a retired teacher, advanced to the general election in November along with Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola and another candidate. The unique top-four primary system allowed candidates from all parties to compete on the same ballot, with the top four finishers advancing to the ranked-choice voting general election.

The Republican U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan has described his opponent, the other Dan Sullivan, as a "confusion candidate" meant to siphon votes and help Peltola win. The challenger's campaign has denied any involvement with Peltola's team.

With most of the primary votes counted, Peltola led the pack with 48% of the vote, while Sen. Dan Sullivan trailed closely behind with 43%. The other Dan Sullivan, who is running as a Republican, has only 2.4% of the vote.

The Alaska Senate race is considered one of the most competitive this cycle, with control of the upper chamber hanging in the balance.

A new twist emerged when Republican former Mayor Dan A. Sullivan endorsed Sen. Dan S. Sullivan for re-election over the other Dan Sullivan and Peltola, stating that "As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. He’s been great for Alaska."

Written for “Dan Sullivan Advances in Alaska” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 9 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Dan Sullivan Advances in Alaska
Politics · 10 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads centre and hedges 16% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 23 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 3 of 39 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article B mentions a new endorsement by another person with the name Dan Sullivan, whereas Article A is about the primary results and general election implications for Senator Dan Sullivan”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Although both articles describe the Alaska Senate primary results, they report slightly different details and mention it in different contexts”
CBS News
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article B mentions a new endorsement by a Dan Sullivan, which is not reported in Article A, indicating they cover related but distinct events”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 3 of 28 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A describes the outcome of Alaska's 'jungle primary' on Tuesday evening, while Article B reports on a separate endorsement made by Dan A. Sullivan two days later”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article B reports a separate endorsement by one of the competing Dan Sullivans, rather than describing the primary outcome itself”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes the endorsement of Dan S. Sullivan by another Dan Sullivan, while Article B reports on a development in the Alaska Senate election, mentioning two candidates with the same name but without reference to an endorsement”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
3 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Centre
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
60/100
NBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
10
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-24 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

NBC News · 1939 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Raquel Coronell Uribe
26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is canceling his rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend, where he had been set to stump for GOP candidates in competitive races, opting instead to do tele-rallies.
🔮 Leo, whose birth name is Robert Francis Prevost, requested the ballot Oct. 3, the Will County Clerk’s Office chief of staff, Kim Fladhammer, confirmed to NBC News on Thursday.
🔮 In a follow-up post Oct. 19, Trump said work on the course would begin not on Nov. 15, but “IMMEDIATELY!”
🔮 “Anyone with that record of support for jihadists would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane.
🔮 “If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so.
🔮 “Shylock” is a Jewish character in William Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice” sometimes called a usurer.
🔮 “Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.”
🔮 An attorney for Swalwell said in an email Thursday that he is “innocent,” adding that “these allegations are false, and the facts will bear that out.” “The reported referral to the Los Angeles County District Attorney is a standard procedural step.
🔮 Secretaries of state’s offices in Ohio, Louisiana and Oklahoma were sent packages this week with mysterious powders, just weeks before the offices are set to oversee the midterm elections.
🔮 “Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits, will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction, the balance of the equities tips in their favor, and an injunction serves the public interest,” U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon wrote.
Also by Raquel Coronell Uribe
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Raquel Coronell Uribe →

Topics

Alaska Anchorage NBC News Republican Senate

Subjects

Dan J. Sullivan PERSON · 6× Dan S. Sullivan PERSON · 6× Peltola PERSON · 5× Alaska GPE · 4× Dan Sullivan PERSON · 2× NBC News ORG · 2× Republican NORP · 2× Senate ORG · 2× Sullivan PERSON · 2× Anchorage GPE · 1×

Narrative

The Republican former mayor of Anchorage, Dan A. Sullivan, endorsed GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan for re-election over retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan and Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola on Tuesday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-24
🔮 The Republican former mayor of Anchorage, Dan A. Sullivan, endorsed GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan for re-election over retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan and Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola on Tuesday.

Claims (19 extracted, 3 hedged)

A new Dan Sullivan has entered the conversation surrounding the Alaska Senate race, in which incumbent Dan S. Sullivan faces a candidate with the same name. asserted
Sullivan → enter → name
The Republican former mayor of Anchorage, Dan A. Sullivan, endorsed GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan for re-election over retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan and Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola on Tuesday. asserted
mayor → endorse → Tuesday
“As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. asserted
I → urge → Sullivan
He’s been great for Alaska,” the former mayor wrote on Facebook. asserted
mayor → write → Facebook
Both Dan S. Sullivan and Peltola advanced to the general election in November after the all-party primary last week. asserted
Sullivan → advance → primary
The primary is decided by ranked-choice voting, and the top four finishers advance, regardless of political affiliation. asserted
finishers → decide → affiliation
NBC News has not yet made a call regarding who the other two candidates will be, but Dan J. Sullivan could be among them. uncertain
Sullivan → make → them
Alaska’s Senate race is considered one of the most competitive this cycle, when control of the upper chamber hangs in the balance. asserted
control → consider → balance
With primary votes left to count, Peltola so far has 48% of the vote, with Sen. Dan S. Sullivan taking 43%. asserted
Sullivan → leave → %
Dan J. Sullivan — who is running as a Republican — has 2.4%, with other candidates getting considerably fewer votes. asserted
candidates → run → votes
Democrats view the election as a seat they could flip in November. uncertain
they → view → November
The Cook Political Report rates the race a tossup. asserted
Report → rat → race
The Sullivan saga has drawn attention as former teacher Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy has faced legal challenges. asserted
candidacy → draw → challenges
Dan S. Sullivan and Republicans have alleged that the teacher was placed on the ballot to confuse voters and detract from the senator’s share of the vote, claiming he’s working with Peltola. asserted
he → allege → Peltola
Dan J. Sullivan has denied coordinating with the Peltola campaign. asserted
Sullivan → deny → campaign
Peltola has also denied any involvement with the second Sullivan campaign. asserted
Peltola → deny → campaign
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled last month that Dan J. Sullivan can stay on the ballot after the state Division of Elections originally disqualified him. asserted
Division → rule → him
NBC News has reported that state and federal prosecutors in Alaska were investigating whether the race could be part of a conspiracy to confuse voters. uncertain
race → report → voters
A grand jury issued subpoenas this month to compel information from witnesses linked to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign. asserted
jury → issue → campaign
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support