Alaska threatens – Alaska’s Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher says she will likely remove a “duplicate” U.S. Senate candidate named Dan Sullivan from the August primary ballot, citing eligibility concerns and complaints that triggered sworn-question investigations inv
The timing felt like a trap: just after a second “Dan Sullivan” appeared in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, questions followed fast—enough that the state’s top elections official is now moving to disqualify him from the August primary.
Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher is threatening to have the new Dan Sullivan removed from the ballot. She says he is ineligible.
In a letter to Sullivan—“not the Senator, the other one”—Beecher said she has received two complaints about his eligibility in the election. Those complaints triggered investigations, including one by Alaska’s lieutenant governor, who requested sworn answers to specific questions.
Beecher said Sullivan responded with a letter. but she has concluded “that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator.” She gave Sullivan until Thursday. June 10. to respond to the complaints before the division makes its final determination.
The new Sullivan has already stepped into a fight that Republicans say is designed to confuse voters—and Democrats deny. The stakes are bigger than one candidate’s name: the Senate race itself could determine which party controls Congress, a point that has sharpened every accusation in this contest.
Both Sullivans draw hard lines.
Sullivan—the duplicate—has denied claims that he is being used as a proxy to siphon votes away from incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan and help challenger Mary Peltola. The incumbent Sullivan has accused the other Sullivan of being a Democratic plant. In his comments on the investigations. the incumbent Sullivan said. “The law forbids your office from denying me access to the ballot just because Senator Sullivan and the NRSC [National Republican Senatorial Committee] would prefer I not be allowed to run. ” according to NBC News. He also 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.”.
Republicans’ broader concern is that the duplicate Sullivan could mislead Republican voters at the worst possible moment.
Since the new Dan Sullivan announced his candidacy for Senate and officially filed to run, Republicans have accused Democrats of using the duplicate Sullivan as a tactic to win the election. They argue confusing Republican voters could benefit Democratic leader Mary Peltola.
In a statement to Straight Arrow, the National Republican Senate Campaign accused Peltola and Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., of “resorting to deceitful political maneuvers that attempt to trick Alaskans and buy a seat.”
The new Sullivan denied those accusations, telling The Associated Press that the decision to run was “my choice.” He said he had no contact with the Peltola campaign.
The friction hasn’t stayed confined to statements.
After the duplicate Sullivan entered the race, Straight Arrow previously reported that a new “Dan Sullivan” suddenly appeared to unseat GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. The earlier reporting described a nearly identical campaign website URL and poster, with slight differences from Sen. Sullivan’s.
The controversy has also included scrutiny of a specific press release. The Anchorage Daily News reported that the “metadata” on challenger Sullivan’s May 29 press release announcing his candidacy “indicated it was written by someone by the name of ‘Amber Lee.’” A person by that same name is listed as a political action committee that supported Peltola’s previous runs for Congress. according to one of Senator Sullivan’s complaints.
If Alaska voters end up sorting through the duplicate name on their ballots, they would not be the first people caught in a name-related political tangle.
In 2024. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson addressed developments in the state’s governor’s race. where two people named Robert Ferguson joined the ballot. They were both running as Democrats alongside AG Ferguson, but received support from right-wing activist Glen Morgan. AG Ferguson called their candidacy a “direct attack on our democracy and the integrity of the Washington state election system.” According to KOMO News. they both filed on a Friday but dropped out by Monday. the same day Ferguson made his remarks.
For Alaska’s duplicate Sullivan, the question now is narrower and more immediate: whether Beecher’s division moves from threat to action.
Under Beecher’s timeline. Sullivan had until Thursday. June 10. to respond to the two complaints before the division makes its final eligibility determination. With August’s primary approaching. the ballot line could become the next flashpoint—one where a name. an eligibility decision. and claims of political maneuvering collide in plain view of voters.
Alaska Division of Elections Carol Beecher Dan Sullivan duplicate candidate August primary U.S. Senate Mary Peltola Charles Schumer NRSC lieutenant governor eligibility ballot access
So they’re just gonna kick the “other” Dan Sullivan off? Sounds wild.
I don’t even get how there’s two Dan Sullivans, that feels like a setup. Like who thought this was a good idea for voters? Either way Alaska elections always drama.
Wait, isn’t Dan Sullivan the senator? If this “duplicate” is ineligible then why was he allowed at all in the first place. Feels like they’re playing games with timing, like oh now we notice, lol.
This is exactly how they confuse people. You got Republicans saying it’s to siphon votes, Democrats saying the opposite, and meanwhile they’re all staring at the same name on the ballot like that’s the whole problem. Also the letter thing—“not the Senator, the other one”—come on, that’s such a trap sentence. I’m guessing the voters will get blamed regardless of what happens.