SEEING DOUBLE: Second Dan Sullivan advances, setting up bizarre Alaska Senate ballot
Dan J.Sullivan Jr., a Senate candidate in Alaska who has made headlines for sharing a name with incumbent Sen.
Dan S.Sullivan, R-Alaska, has officially advanced to the general election, the Associated Press announced on Wednesday.He joins Sen.
Sullivan and former Rep.Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, as the third of the final four candidates.Alaska has yet to announce the fourth.Sullivan Jr.’s advance, which seemed likely after the polls closed last Tuesday, complicates the picture for Republicans as they work against the clock to explain why two candidates have the same name — as well as which one to vote for.
Unlike the primary, the general election picture is further clouded by ranked-choice voting (RCV), which raises more questions about how voters will react to the name overlap.MORNING GLORY: ALASKA’S 'REAL' SENATOR DAN SULLIVAN STOOD UP OVER CHALLENGERDan J.Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S.
Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo in Petersburg, Alaska, on June 26, 2026.(Katie Holmlund/Associated Press)Under this system, voters rank their preferred candidates.
If their top choice is eliminated, their support passes on to their next-ranked option.While supporters of the process argue it expands voters' power and greatly increases the influence of candidates that may not otherwise be a top choice, critics — like Sen.
Sullivan — believe it also introduces confusion."Like many others who did not support ranked choice voting in 2020, I still believe that this new election system has created unnecessary confusion among voters," Sullivan told local Alaskan media in 2024.Fears of that confusion were amplified by the emergence of the second Sullivan.Sullivan Jr., a logger, appeared among the 16 candidates on the ballot as an independent in last week's primary, snapping up 2.5% of the vote.Sullivan Jr.’s campaign announcement did not list a party affiliation.
His website does not state his position on any political issues.Instead, it leaned into the name overl...