JUNEAU, Alaska -- A top Alaska elections official has threatened to disqualify a U.S. Senate candidate from the August primary who shares the same name and party affiliation as incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan.
Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher, in a letter published by the Anchorage Daily News, told challenger Dan Sullivan that her office had received two complaints regarding his eligibility and determined "that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator." She gave him a Thursday deadline to submit additional information in response. The incumbent senator is listed as Dan S. Sullivan; the challenger is listed as Dan J. Sullivan.
What the Right Is Saying
Sen. Dan Sullivan has accused his namesake challenger of working with Democrats to trick voters and boost Peltola's chances, a claim both the challenger and the Peltola campaign deny. "The law forbids your office from denying me access to the ballot just because Senator Sullivan and the NRSC would prefer I not be allowed to run," the challenger wrote in response to Lt. Gov. Dahlstrom's investigation. He called the investigation "an unprecedented affront to my rights as a candidate and the rights of Alaska voters to select their own representation in the U.S. Senate."
Carol Beecher, who sent the disqualification letter, is a registered Republican who has previously donated to Republican groups and campaigns. Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees elections, said her investigation pertains to "credible allegations" that the challenger did not declare his candidacy "with a good faith purpose to seek office but rather with a purpose to confuse voters." The National Republican Senatorial Committee had earlier written to both election officials requesting action against the challenger's candidacy.
The challenger's supporters argue that any eligible Alaska voter should be able to run for Senate regardless of their name. They note he meets all constitutional requirements: at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for more than nine years, and an Alaska resident since moving to the state in 1980. "This is about protecting every Alaskan's right to run for office," one Republican activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic groups have largely stayed quiet on the challenge, though former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola's campaign has denied any coordination with the challenger. The ACLU of Alaska issued a statement saying it was "unaware of any other instance where the Lieutenant Governor has investigated a specific candidate for reasons other than determining whether a candidate meets federal, state and local eligibility requirements." The organization said it is monitoring the situation closely.
Jahna Lindemuth, who served as Alaska attorney general under an independent governor, told the Anchorage Daily News that investigating why someone would run for office "starts infringing on free speech concerns and other protections under the Constitution." She suggested Dahlstrom could simply label the incumbent senator distinctly on the ballot if voter confusion were a genuine concern.
Some Democratic strategists have noted privately that even if the challenger is removed, it remains unclear whether this benefits Peltola, given Alaska's ranked-choice voting system and the uncertainty around which Republican would benefit from Sullivan's removal.
What the Numbers Show
Sen. Dan Sullivan will turn 69 this weekend. He was first elected to the Senate in 2014 and won reelection in 2020 with 54% of the vote. Alaska's August primary will determine which candidates advance to the general election, where Peltola is expected to be a strong contender after winning a special election in 2022.
The challenger, who lives in Petersburg south of Juneau, told the Associated Press he moved to Alaska in 1980 and worked for the U.S. Forest Service before becoming a teacher. He is now retired. The Division of Elections previously certified his candidacy before issuing this week's disqualification threat.
At least one political action group, One Nation, has begun referring to the incumbent as "Sen. Dan S. Sullivan" in advertising to distinguish him from the challenger. Polling on this specific race remains limited, though Alaska's ranked-choice voting system complicates traditional vote-share predictions.
The Bottom Line
The dispute centers on whether a candidate sharing an incumbent's name constitutes voter confusion rather than bad-faith candidacy, a legal distinction that has few precedents in American elections. Both Beecher and Dahlstrom are Republicans, raising questions about the partisan nature of the challenge.
The challenger has until Thursday to respond with additional evidence. It remains unclear whether he has retained legal representation. Whatever happens next is likely to set precedent for how states handle similar name-confusion cases, particularly as election officials across the country grapple with an increasing number of duplicate-name candidates in competitive races.