Alaska Supreme Court puts second Dan Sullivan on August primary ballot

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that a second Dan Sullivan may remain on the primary ballot for U.S. Senate, settling a legal dispute that had drawn scrutiny from the state legislature and leaving Alaska voters to sort out two candidates sharing a name.

The court rejected efforts to remove the lesser-known Sullivan, allowing him to appear alongside incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan on the ballot. How the Alaska Division of Elections will present the two names to voters has not been confirmed.

The dispute erupted after the second Sullivan filed to run, prompting the incumbent to allege that Democrats had planted a same-named candidate to siphon his votes and benefit Democratic challenger Mary Peltola. The senator's allegation was the basis for the legal challenge. The court's ruling allowed the second candidate to remain on the ballot.

The Stakes

Cook Political Report has reclassified the Alaska Senate race as a toss-up, according to a release from the Peltola campaign. The campaign cited the rating shift as evidence of momentum. Campaign manager Elisa Rios said in a statement, "Alaskans are fed up with Dan Sullivan enabling the rigged DC system to hike prices and leave our state behind. Mary will fight to fix the rigged system in DC and always put Alaska first."

What Comes Next

At a joint Alaska State House Judiciary and State Affairs Committee hearing on June 22, called to examine the Division of Elections' legal authority in the matter, former legislator Hollis French offered a plain-spoken frame for the problem. "Lisa Murkowski had to spend energy teaching people how to spell her name," French said. "These candidates— campaigns have to spend some energy saying, 'I'm the Dan Sullivan from Fairbanks. I'm the incumbent. Vote Dan from Fairbanks.' And, you know, that's the solution in my mind."

At that same hearing, Rep. Andrew Gray raised the question of whether the division could add an identifier, such as the word "incumbent," to the ballot rather than remove one of the candidates. Whether the division will adopt such an approach has not been confirmed.

The primary ballot will include two candidates named Dan Sullivan. The Alaska Division of Elections has not publicly confirmed how it will distinguish them for voters.