Third Dan Sullivan wades into Alaska Senate race with endorsement
A third individual named Dan Sullivan has entered Alaska’s competitive Senate race, adding too the confusion surrounding candidates with similar names. The race features incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, and another Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and registered Republican who appeared on the primary ballot as an independent candidate. Republicans have accused Dan J. Sullivan of attempting to confuse voters, claiming he acts as a Democratic plant supporting opponent Mary Peltola, even though he denies any connection to her campaign. The Alaska primary system allows the top four candidates to advance to the general election nonetheless of party, and both S. Sullivan and Peltola secured enough votes to proceed. The contested race has seen legal battles: the elections board initially declared Dan J. Sullivan ineligible, citing potential voter confusion, but courts reversed this decision, emphasizing that candidates can be distinguished without disqualifying them.The election remains highly competitive, with recent endorsements including a former Anchorage mayor supporting Senator Dan S. Sullivan.
A third Dan Sullivan in Alaska weighed into the state’s Senate race featuring two candidates with that name, marking the latest twist in one of the most bewildering sagas of the 2026 political cycle.
Republicans have for months denounced Dan J. Sullivan for running in the tight race, framing him as a Democratic plant designed to confuse voters into thinking they are supporting Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK), the incumbent lawmaker running for reelection.
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Yet another Dan Sullivan entered the fray when he endorsed the senator’s reelection campaign.
Last week, former Anchorage Mayor Dan A. Sullivan last week said he backed Sen. Dan S. Sullivan ahead of November’s general election. The race is viewed as one of the closest in the country, as Democrats hope to flip the seat blue and send Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) to the upper chamber.
“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 in a Facebook post.
Republicans have accused Dan J. Sullivan of serving as an accessory to Peltola’s campaign against the senator. Amber Lee, Dan J. Sullivan’s former campaign manager, is a Democratic strategist whom the New York Times described as a Peltola supporter. She has advocated for Peltola on the record several times, a GOP operative previously told the Washington Examiner.
Dan J. Sullivan is a registered Republican. He appeared on the state’s open primary ballot last week as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. The retired teacher from Petersburg has denied being connected to the Peltola campaign. He is set to land on the general election ballot in November.
In Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, the top four finishers in the open primary, regardless of party, proceed to the general election. Dan S. Sullivan and Peltola handily secured enough votes in the Aug. 18 primary to be advanced. Dan J. Sullivan is leading several other candidates jockeying for third and fourth place.
Republicans lost a battle to keep him off the ballot in late June. At the time, Alaska’s Supreme Court backed up Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’s ruling that tossed out the state’s Division of Elections’ decision on the race.
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The elections board said Dan J. Sullivan was ineligible to challenge Sen. Dan S. Sullivan’s bid for reelection because his candidacy was designed “to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”
But the courts reversed the decision, with Justice Aimee Oravec arguing that “there’s a lot of different ways you can distinguish these two candidates on the ballot, short of precluding access to the ballot to begin with.”
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