Republican With Same Name as Incumbent Dan Sullivan Advances From Alaska US Senate Primary

Alaska Senate Primary Advances Incumbent Dan Sullivan and Namesake Challenger

A candidate sharing the name of Alaska’s incumbent U.S. senator advanced Tuesday from the state’s Aug. 18 primary to the November general election in one of the year’s most closely watched Senate contests.

Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, finished among the top four candidates and will appear on the general-election ballot under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. Incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola also advanced. The fourth spot remained too early to call as counting continued.

The challenger had sued after a state elections official initially barred him from the ballot, citing concerns that the filing was intended to confuse voters. A superior-court judge invalidated that decision, and the Alaska Supreme Court subsequently ordered Dan J. Sullivan placed on the ballot. On the primary ballot he appeared as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party designation, while the incumbent was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent.

Neither the challenger’s campaign nor the senator’s campaign responded immediately to requests for comment on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump endorsed the incumbent senator and described the other Sullivan’s candidacy as an attempt to confuse voters. Dan J. Sullivan criticized the incumbent for accepting the endorsement, stating that the president was “more interested in raising tariffs on our allies than in lowering the cost of groceries, housing and energy.”

The Senate race was one of three major contests on the primary ballot. In the U.S. House race, Republican Rep. Nick Begich advanced along with independent Bill Hill; the remaining two positions were still undecided. In the gubernatorial race, Democrats Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich led a field that included several Republicans seeking to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Republican Bernadette Wilson also advanced, with the fourth slot undecided. Tom Begich is Nick Begich’s uncle.

Alaska continues to accept absentee and overseas ballots postmarked by election day for up to 10 days after the primary.

The incumbent senator and Peltola raised the most money and entered the race with statewide name recognition. The contest is viewed by both parties as competitive for control of the Senate. The presence of the second Sullivan on the general-election ballot introduces an additional variable under ranked-choice voting, in which voters may rank multiple candidates and ballots cast for candidates finishing third or fourth can be redistributed if no candidate reaches a majority on the first count.

The primary results set the stage for a fall campaign in which the four Senate candidates will compete under the ranked-choice system, with the possibility that supporters of lower-polling candidates could influence the final outcome through second and third choices.