A closely watched U.S. Senate campaign in Alaska is stoking controversy after a candidate bearing the same name as one of the major candidates entered the race.
As the Republican incumbent in the race, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is engaged in one of the tightest campaigns for the upper chamber in the country, facing a formidable challenger in former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. The recent entrance of another Dan Sullivan into the race has triggered accusations from the incumbent lawmaker and top Republican leadership that Democrats plotted his candidacy to derail the senator’s campaign and confuse voters.
“This thing in Alaska is bizarre,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) warned this week. “I mean, really, and whoever contrived that — hopefully you guys will figure that out over time, but that obviously is designed to confuse the electorate in the state of Alaska.”
“I think that any disruption in the political ecosystem right now is probably designed by Democrats to give their candidates an advantage,” he added.
The other Dan Sullivan announced his campaign for the Senate last week, ahead of the Aug. 18 open primary election, saying the senator “has failed to put Alaska first.” Like the incumbent lawmaker, the other Dan Sullivan is a registered Republican, according to the Alaska Division of Elections, and his campaign website also describes him as a Republican candidate.
The senator is threatening legal action against the other Dan Sullivan, whose campaign logo additionally bears a strong resemblance to the incumbent’s. The senator said Tuesday that Democrats are trying to “rig” the election in favor of their party.
“They all orchestrated this on purpose to confuse Alaskans,” the senator said of Democrats. “These guys are purposely trying to trick my constituents to rig, and I don’t use that lightly, rig an election in favor of my opponent.”
The Peltola campaign and the Alaska Democratic Party told the Associated Press they are in no way affiliated with the other Dan Sullivan.
Concerns remain about the potential for voter confusion, with the National Republican Senatorial Committee sending a letter to Alaska election officials on Monday requesting that the other Dan Sullivan’s name be removed from the ballot. The NRSC is the campaign arm for Senate Republicans.
“Alaska regulations provide that a candidate’s name may not appear on the ballot in a manner that is ‘confusing or misleading to voters or compromises the fairness or neutrality of the ballot,’” the NRSC wrote. “You must uphold your statutory obligation to enforce those regulations and protect the principles they safeguard by keeping Sham Candidate Sullivan off the ballot.”
Sullivan accused Democrats of hypocrisy about protecting election integrity in comments to Fox News Digital.
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“The Democratic Party is talking about, ‘We care about fair elections,’” Sullivan said. “It’s bulls***. … The Democrats in D.C., the Peltola campaign, are complicit in trying to trick Alaskans.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the other Dan Sullivan’s campaign for comment.