A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who recently registered as a Republican, may remain on Alaska's August primary ballot despite sharing a name with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is seeking a third term. Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews overturned a disqualification order issued earlier this month by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher, finding she acted outside the bounds of the state constitution, Alaska law, and the division's own regulations.
The Court's Rationale
Matthews found that Beecher's disqualification rested on an unstated "good faith" standard not grounded in existing rules. In his written ruling, Matthews noted that "the decision was based upon a new, previously unstated, 'good faith' criteria" — a basis he concluded had no legal foundation. Beecher had determined that the challenger did not launch his campaign in good faith and sought to confuse voters, but the court rejected that reasoning as an improper invention of election law.
Attorneys for Dan J. Sullivan argued that the U.S. Constitution sets out only three qualifications for Senate candidates: age, citizenship, and residency. Because their client met all three, they contended the elections director lacked authority to remove him. State attorneys pushed back, arguing the Constitution does not compel states to place what they called a "sham candidate" on the ballot, but the court was not persuaded.
What Comes Next
The Division of Elections told the Associated Press it intends to appeal the ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court. State attorneys have said a final decision must come by Tuesday to allow ballots for the August 18 primary to go to print on time, making the timeline unusually compressed.
If the lower court ruling holds, both Dan J. Sullivan and Sen. Dan S. Sullivan could advance from the primary. Alaska's ranked-choice voting system sends the top four general-election vote-getters to November, meaning both men could appear on the same fall ballot.
The Political Stakes
Sen. Dan Sullivan has said publicly he believes the challenger is a Democratic plant designed to split or confuse the Republican vote. Democrats are fielding former Rep. Mary Peltola, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer helped recruit, in what is expected to be a competitive November race. Challenger Dan J. Sullivan previously acknowledged that sharing the senator's name gave him "an instant megaphone," though he also said he had grown frustrated with the incumbent and had been weighing a run independently.
Alaska is among a handful of states both parties are targeting as potentially decisive in the broader contest for Senate control.