Alaska judge – An Alaska Superior Court judge overturned a disqualification decision, ruling that elections officials lacked authority to remove a Petersburg resident named Dan J. Sullivan from the August Republican primary ballot under a newly created “good-faith” standard.
A Petersburg man who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan will remain on Alaska’s August primary ballot after a state judge stepped in to reverse his disqualification.
In a ruling issued Friday. June 26. Alaska Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews found that the state Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher had no legal basis to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot using a “good-faith” standard that, the judge said, does not exist in the U.S. Constitution, Alaska law, or state election regulations. Matthews ordered the Division to place Sullivan on the Aug. 18 Republican primary ballot.
The decision flips a June 15 ruling by Beecher, who concluded that the candidacy was intended to confuse voters rather than mount a legitimate campaign.
Matthews said Sullivan met the constitutional qualifications to serve in the U.S. Senate, including age, citizenship, and residency requirements, and that election officials improperly imposed an extra eligibility test. “Instead, the decision was based upon a new, previously unstated, ‘good-faith’ criteria,” Matthews wrote.
The judge also determined the Division failed to prove its claim that Sullivan’s candidacy was meant to mislead voters, saying the evidence did not support the agency’s conclusion that he was running solely to create confusion.
The ruling can still be appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.
The case has grabbed national attention because the Alaska Senate race is expected to be among the most competitive contests this fall. Sullivan has accused the challenger of coordinating with Democrats and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola’s campaign to confuse voters and strengthen her position under Alaska’s open primary and ranked-choice voting system. Peltola, the challenger, and Alaska Democrats have denied those allegations.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Alaska Republican Party also argued the candidacy could mislead voters, saying both Republicans requested similar ballot names.
Under Alaska’s election system, the top four finishers in the Aug. 18 primary advance to the November general election regardless of party affiliation. Before Beecher reversed course, election officials planned to distinguish the two candidates by listing the challenger as “Dan J. Sullivan” and the incumbent as “Dan S. Sullivan.”.
Whether the dispute ends in Alaska Supreme Court or not, the immediate effect is clear: Dan J. Sullivan remains in the race long enough for voters to weigh in during the August primary.
Alaska Senate race Dan Sullivan Dan J. Sullivan Dan S. Sullivan Alaska Division of Elections Carol Beecher Thomas Matthews Aug. 18 primary ranked-choice voting Petersburg National Republican Senatorial Committee
So they can just put anyone on the ballot now?
Good-faith standard? That sounds like judges making up rules on the fly. If the guy’s only on there to confuse people, shouldn’t officials be allowed to stop that?
Wait, this is the one with the same name as Sen. Dan Sullivan, right? I don’t get how elections officials thought it was confusing but then a judge says they had no authority. Also, “good-faith” doesn’t exist in the constitution?? Like courts aren’t allowed to use common sense?
I’m confused because I saw something like this on TikTok where they said he was definitely trying to trick voters. But now the judge says there wasn’t evidence of that. Meanwhile everyone’s yelling Democrats/Republicans and Mary Peltola’s name like it matters for this guy’s eligibility? Appeals court will probably drag it out till after people already voted anyway.