Politics

Dan Sullivan Endorses Dan Sullivan Against Dan Sullivan

United States Senate - Office of Dan Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Former Republican Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan endorsed incumbent Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan Tuesday over another candidate with the same name.

Retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan entered the race in June against the senator with the same name, raising suspicions that Democrats purposely put him in place to confuse voters. The former mayor, while referring to himself as the “OG Dan Sullivan,” urged voters to support the incumbent senator.

“As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan. He’s been great for Alaska,” the former mayor wrote on Facebook.

Peltola’s campaign told the Daily Caller News Foundation in June that they had “no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.”

Carol Beecher, the director of the Alaska Division of Elections, attempted to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot. After the former teacher challenged the ruling, Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled that Dan J. Sullivan could remain on the ballot for the state’s primary on Aug. 18.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued grand jury subpoenas into whether Dan J. Sullivan entered the race to confuse voters and steal voters from Dan S. Sullivan.

The incumbent Sullivan has faced a competitive challenge against Peltola, who held a two-point average lead as of Monday, according to RealClearPolitics polling.

Alaska has a ranked-choice voting system and can have multiple candidates from both parties on the ballot, prompting Democrats to eye Alaska as a potential win despite it being a deep red state. Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski defeated Trump-backed candidate Kelly Tshibaka in 2022, despite her previous vote to remove Trump from office over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in February 2021.