{"id":384,"date":"2026-06-12T15:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=384"},"modified":"2026-06-12T15:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:05:41","slug":"alaska-division-of-elections-intends-to-strike-u-s-senate-challenger-dan-sullivan-from-the-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=384","title":{"rendered":"Alaska Division of Elections intends to strike U.S. Senate challenger Dan Sullivan from the ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Alaska Division of Elections says retired teacher Dan Sullivan of Petersburg is ineligible to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Read more Gasline tax bill heads for House vote as developer pledges to prioritize Alaska labor<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBased on a review of the evidence presented and in the Division\u2019s possession, the Division has determined that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator,\u201d Elections Division Director Carol Beecher wrote in a Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

The decision is preliminary and Beecher did not cite specific evidence.<\/p>\n

Petersburg Dan Sullivan said Wednesday he\u2019d seek legal advice if the state denies him access to the primary ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m just going to stay the course and I\u2019m assuming this attempt will fail and I\u2019ll be on the ballot,\u201d he said, before receiving the state\u2019s provisional determination.<\/p>\n

Sen. Sullivan and the National Republican Senatorial Committee accuse him of aiming to confuse Alaska voters, by filing his candidacy using the same name and party designation as the incumbent.<\/p>\n

The controversy adds fireworks to a campaign that has so far been fairly staid. Sen. Sullivan and his main rival, Democrat Mary Peltola, have largely avoided head-on conflicts, while their campaigns amass millions of dollars. Groups supporting one or the other are pledging to spend millions<\/u> more on the Alaska race, which Democrats see as key to winning back control of the Senate.<\/p>\n

The incumbent Sullivan is considered one of the most endangered Republicans<\/u> in the Senate. A few polls have shown Peltola has the lead and one ratings outfit Thursday declared the race a toss-up<\/u>, suggesting Sen. Sullivan might have something to worry about if even a small number of Alaska voters can\u2019t tell one Sullivan from another.<\/p>\n

Petersburg Sullivan said he\u2019s running because he\u2019s dissatisfied with the incumbent, and that there are many ways to differentiate him from the senator on the ballot, to avoid voter confusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he’s making a big deal out of nothing,\u201d the challenger said. He should \u201crun on his record, and if people like him, they\u2019ll vote for him. If they like me, they’ll vote for me. And let’s just try to get back to some normalcy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sen. Sullivan and the NRSC claim the challenger is not a true Republican. They cite his campaign contributions to Democrats, including Peltola. They also point to his selection of Amber Lee to work on his campaign website. Lee has worked for Democrats and given money to Peltola\u2019s previous campaigns.<\/p>\n

Petersburg Sullivan said he can hire whomever he likes and that \u201cpolitical powers from Washington D.C.\u201d don\u2019t get to decide who can be a Republican candidate in Alaska.<\/p>\n

The NRSC did not respond to an interview request.<\/p>\n

Election-law attorney Scott Kendall, who briefly represented Sen. Sullivan 12 years ago, is sympathetic to the senator\u2019s concern. Kendall, too, suspects the challenger is trying to siphon votes away from the incumbent by confusing voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is zero question that some number of voters \u2014 dozens, hundreds, or thousands \u2014 will attempt to vote for Sen. Sullivan and will fail because of this trick,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cAnd I think that’s tragic. I want every vote to count.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he said, it\u2019s \u201cdangerous\u201d for the state to try to determine a candidate\u2019s motives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, however fanciful his story sounds, you know, pulling him off the ballot, I think, is an extreme remedy,\u201d Kendall said.<\/p>\n

He said the problem could be solved by just labeling one \u201cincumbent,\u201d and adding the candidates\u2019 middle initials.<\/p>\n

The state gave the challenger a day to respond to its preliminary conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Division will then issue a final determination, with or without another response from you,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

Read more The theory taking the rich by storm: China funds data center haters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSome number of voters … will attempt to vote for Sen. Sullivan and will fail because of this trick,\u201d says one elections expert, who still calls the state’s move “extreme.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAlaska Division of Elections intends to strike U.S. Senate challenger Dan Sullivan from the ballot - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=384\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alaska Division of Elections intends to strike U.S. Senate challenger Dan Sullivan from the ballot - Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cSome number of voters ... will attempt to vote for Sen. Sullivan and will fail because of this trick,\u201d says one elections expert, who still calls the state's move "extreme."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=384\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T15:05:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e09896005b88414084eb4bd3215ab0a\"},\"headline\":\"Alaska Division of Elections intends to strike U.S. Senate challenger Dan Sullivan from the ballot\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T15:05:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384\"},\"wordCount\":683,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ff4693c55d4b74725f074b8159205623.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=384\",\"name\":\"Alaska Division of Elections intends to strike U.S. Senate challenger Dan Sullivan from the ballot - 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