{"id":2620009,"date":"2026-06-27T16:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T20:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-dan-sullivan-rival-with-same-name-to-stay-on-ballot-judge\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T16:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T20:25:28","slug":"sen-dan-sullivan-rival-with-same-name-to-stay-on-ballot-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-dan-sullivan-rival-with-same-name-to-stay-on-ballot-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Dan Sullivan rival with same name to stay on ballot: Judge"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsen-dan-sullivan-rival-with-same-name-to-stay-on-ballot-judge%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2620009&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A judge in Alaska ruled that Dan Sullivan has the right to appear on the ballot as a Republican Senate candidate, reversing the state&#8217;s Election Division decision that disqualified him due to his name matching that of the incumbent senator. The division argued that Sullivan\u2019s candidacy aimed to confuse voters and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dan-sullivans-challenger-with-same-name-ruled-ineligible-for-senate-primary\/\" title=\"...&#039;s challenger with same name ruled ineligible for ... ...\">compromise ballot fairness<\/a>. Though, Judge Thomas Matthews concluded that the division&#8217;s decision was based on an unsupported &#8220;good faith&#8221; criterion and that, under Alaska law and precedent, eligibility should favor the candidate when ambiguity exists. The ruling is set to be appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court before the primary election on August 18. Concerns have been raised that the multiple Dan Sullivans-one running for Senate and the other challenging him-are part of a scheme to mislead voters, with allegations that Dan J.Sullivan\u2019s campaign was strategically orchestrated,including the use of a similar name to the incumbent. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-state-ags-push-supreme-court-to-intervene-in-hawaiis-drastic-climate-case-against-energy-companies\/\" title=\"... state attorneys general urge Supreme Court to step in on Hawaii&#039;s climate lawsuit against energy firms\">case highlights issues<\/a> of candidate eligibility and election integrity in alaska\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >ranked-choice voting system<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/alaska\/\">Alaskan<\/a> judge on Friday ruled that a man named Dan Sullivan has the right to be on the ballot as a Republican <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\">Senate<\/a> candidate, marking a blow to election officials\u2019 attempt to block him from running for office because he bears the same name as the leading GOP candidate in the race. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alaska Division of Elections<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4609543\/dan-sullivan-same-name-alaska-senate-ineligible\/\"> said earlier this month<\/a> that Dan. J. Sullivan was ineligible to challenge Sen. Dan S. Sullivan\u2019s bid for reelection after it was determined that he declared his candidacy \u201cto confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot\u2019s fairness or neutrality.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4627756\/carville-schism-socialist-candidate\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Carville calls for formal \u2018schism\u2019 with socialist candidates: \u2018Can\u2019t be in the same party\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4627710\/socialists-destroy-democratic-party-byron-york\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Socialists \u2018will try to destroy the Democratic Party\u2019: Byron York<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4626898\/trump-julia-letlow-john-fleming-runoff-replace-bill-cassidy\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump-backed Letlow takes on John Fleming in runoff to replace Bill Cassidy<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews\u2019 ruling this week overturned the Election Division\u2019s decision. Matthews stated that the division\u2019s move was not based on the Constitution, Alaska law, or its own regulations, but rather \u201cupon a new, previously unstated, \u2018good faith\u2019 criteria.\u201d Matthews cited precedent in <em>Alaska Democratic Party v. Beecher<\/em>, which reaffirmed a \u201cpresumption in favor of candidate eligibility\u201d and held that \u201cwhere there is a statutory ambiguity as to whether or not a candidate is eligible to run for office, the statute should be construed in favor of eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn addition, the (Division of Elections) Director\u2019s assertion that Mr. Sullivan seeks to confuse or misguide voters is not supported by a preponderance of evidence,\u201d the judge wrote in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/4a\/66\/8f7ce0f044e1a4b9a53e11952043\/order-on-administrative-appeal.pdf\">a 32-page decision<\/a> issued Friday night. \u201c[The Division] must identify clear statutory or regulatory authority before removing the candidate from the ballot which it has not done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case is expected to be quickly appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court by Monday, before the Division begins printing primary ballots on Tuesday.\u00a0The primary election is on August 18. In Alaska\u2019s ranked-choice voting system, the non-partisan primary will send the top four performing candidates to face off in the general election, regardless of party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republicans have expressed concern that Democrats recruited Dan J. Sullivan to run as a Republican against the incumbent lawmaker in the primary to confuse voters and erode momentum for what is expected to be a tight race for reelection against former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK). <\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">Dan Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S. Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo Friday, June 26, 2026, in Petersburg, Alaska. (AP Photo\/Katie Holmlund)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/06\/localimages\/AP26177852024695.jpg?w=696&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dan Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S. Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo Friday, June 26, 2026, in Petersburg, Alaska. (AP Photo\/Katie Holmlund)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4600248\/nrsc-refers-challenger-dan-sullivan-fec-campaign-scheme-oust-senator-same-name\/\"><strong>NRSC REFERS CHALLENGER DAN SULLIVAN TO FEC OVER CAMPAIGN \u2018SCHEME\u2019 TO OUST SENATOR WITH SAME NAME<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/06\/localimages\/9CB09A9C-E2D2-48DB-B9F8-30ABB3AD8031.png\">metadata<\/a> of Dan. J. Sullivan\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sullivan_Release_052926-1.pdf\">press release<\/a> announcing his bid against the senator was written by Amber Lee, the same name as a Democrat strategist whom the<em> New York Times<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/01\/us\/politics\/sarah-palin-alaska.html\">  described as<\/a> a Peltola supporter and who has advocated Peltola on the record several times, a GOP operative previously told the<em> Washington Examiner<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peltola and the state Democratic Party have denied any connection to Dan J. Sullivan. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alaskan judge rules Dan Sullivan can run for Senate, challenging officials<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2620010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26177852024695.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7386,59361,3728,4151,4012],"class_list":["post-2620009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ballot","tag-dan-sullivan","tag-election","tag-judiciary","tag-senator"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26177852024695.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2620009"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2620013,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620009\/revisions\/2620013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2620010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2620009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2620009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2620009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}