Two Dan Sullivans on the Ballot: How Alaskans View the Senate Race Controversy

Two Dan Sullivans on Alaska’s Ballot Trigger Confusion and Criminal Inquiries

“I don’t think there should even be an issue on that,” Marvin Willard Jr. said of the ballot that has captured national attention ahead of Tuesday’s election. A Tlingit man from the Chilkat Valley and the village of Klukwan who has never lived anywhere else, Willard has watched this year’s U.S. Senate race closely, Newsweek reported. What keeps him awake at night is not the roster of candidates, but the price of heating fuel and groceries in a state where basic goods demand a heavy toll.

Yet across Alaska, voters head into Tuesday facing a ballot carrying two men named Dan Sullivan, a convergence that has sparked competing federal and state criminal investigations, a dismissed Justice Department lawsuit, and fierce debates over whether anyone engineered the overlap on purpose. The core dispute centers on Dan S. Sullivan, the registered Republican incumbent, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired Petersburg schoolteacher listed with no party at all.

The Legal Battle and the Primary Numbers

The ballot configuration has drawn high-profile scrutiny, including from Donald Trump. On October 25, Trump argued the ballot should have called his endorsed candidate “Senator Dan Sullivan” rather than “incumbent,” pointing out that “a lot of people don’t know what incumbent means.” As printed, the document lists Dan S. Sullivan as a registered Republican and the incumbent, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party at all.

Two Dan Sullivans on the Ballot: How Alaskans View the Senate Race Controversy

In June, the state’s elections director disqualified the second Sullivan after determining he had filed “with a purpose to confuse or mislead.” Two Alaska courts subsequently overruled her, finding no state law requiring a candidate to run in good faith. When August primary voters went to the polls, the senator drew 41.4 percent of the vote, while his namesake captured 2.5 percent. A federal judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit on Sunday that had sought to delay certification if the senator lost and votes cast for his namesake could have altered the outcome. Federal and state investigators, however, continue their inquiries into allegations of Democratic involvement in recruiting the second Sullivan—an allegation the campaign of Mary Peltola denies.

Divided Voters on the Ground

In Wasilla, where Trump rallied beside the senator in mid-October, Ronny Johansson expressed concern over the setup. “Having two similar names on the ballot definitely opens up for mistakes,” he said, while adding that stacking ballots is a tactic that both parties have used before. “The voters deserve truly honest elections. Therefore the system has to be changed.”

For others, the confusion went beyond theory. Henry Symons reported watching a friend mark the wrong Dan Sullivan while voting early in Kenai, prompting election workers to destroy the ballot and issue a replacement. Symons called the situation a “total setup.” Innokenty Lestenkof noted similar worries among older voters asking how to verify their choice, telling them to look for the label Trump says too few people understand: “I said the one with incumbent next to him.”

Conversely, Christy O’Brien dismissed the controversy entirely. “No one is confused,” she said, pointing to the primary results as evidence. Michelle Chase, an undeclared voter, viewed the uproar as political theater, noting that the courts had already addressed the matter.

Back in Sitka, Willard remains focused on the land and the cost of living rather than the political machinery of the Lower 48. “There’s candidates that tell you what they’re going to do for Alaska,” he said, “and there’s candidates that point the other finger.”