Alaska Election Board Removes Dan J. Sullivan from Senate Race Ballot

Alaska’s director of elections has removed Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot for the U.S. Senate race. This decision can be appealed in a state court.

The removal reduces the number of candidates named Dan Sullivan in the race to one. The retained candidate is Senator Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent Republican. Dan J. Sullivan, a Republican challenger sharing the same name, was found ineligible.

Republicans in Alaska claimed Democrats used Dan J. Sullivan to confuse voters and weaken Senator Sullivan’s re-election bid. They feared it would benefit Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate. However, both Ms. Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan have denied any coordination. Dan J. Sullivan insisted his candidacy was genuine.

Republican officials overseeing elections disagreed. Lt. Gov Nancy Dahlstrom investigated last week. State elections director Carol Beecher indicated she would remove him unless shown credible evidence of his candidacy’s legitimacy.

“A declaration of candidacy filed for the purpose of confusing or misleading voters… is not properly filed,” Ms. Beecher stated, de-certifying Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy.

Ms. Beecher cited instances supporting her decision. She indicated Dan J. Sullivan’s effort to be listed as “Dan Sullivan” instead of “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” seemed intended to muddle voter choices.

In a surprising turn, Dan J. Sullivan initially requested to be listed as “Dan S. Sullivan,” reflecting Senator Sullivan’s middle initial, not his own. This appeared to demonstrate confusion about his identity.