Alaska's election director has disqualified Dan J. Sullivan from the U.S. Senate race after determining that he filed to mislead voters by sharing the exact same name as incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan. Officials said the candidacy was not genuine and was intended to confuse voters and undermine the fairness and neutrality of the ballot.
In the ruling, the election office said an application submitted to confuse or mislead voters is unlawful. The director wrote that the filing was not made in good faith as a real attempt to win the office, but instead to create confusion and damage ballot integrity.
The decision cited several warning signs. Sullivan had registered as a Republican only days before submitting his candidacy papers, employed a political consultant linked to the Democratic Party, built a campaign website resembling the incumbent's site, and tried to use a name identical to the sitting senator's.
The disqualification leaves just one candidate with that name in Alaska's current election. The Senate race is considered very tight, with recent polls showing Democrat Mary Peltola slightly ahead. Republican officials accused Democrats of trying to run a fake candidate to siphon votes from the incumbent and help their own nominee. Dan J. Sullivan and Peltola both denied any coordination, and Sullivan says he acted in good faith and can appeal the decision within the next month.
