Daily Weird News Report
Alaska’s November Senate ballot is expected to feature two Republican candidates with nearly identical names: incumbent Senator Dan S Sullivan and former schoolteacher and US Forest Service employee Dan J Sullivan.
The unusual matchup emerged from Alaska’s nonpartisan primary system, in which the four leading candidates advance to the general election. According to reporting by The Guardian and figures cited from the Associated Press, 85% of primary ballots had been counted when Dan J Sullivan was projected to advance alongside the incumbent and Democrat Mary Peltola. A fourth candidate had not yet been determined.
Dan J Sullivan entered the race earlier this year. Senator Sullivan has called him a “sham” candidate and alleged that he is running at the behest of Democrats to confuse Republican voters and divide support. The source material does not establish whether that allegation is true.
The challenger’s place on the ballot followed a legal dispute. Alaska election officials disqualified him in June, but the state supreme court ordered that he be restored to the race.
The two candidates appeared next to one another on the primary ballot. The incumbent was identified as both a registered Republican and the sitting officeholder, while Dan J Sullivan’s listing did not include those descriptions.
The challenger received 2.5% of the primary vote, compared with more than 48% for Peltola and nearly 43% for Senator Sullivan. Those results indicate that Dan J Sullivan received substantially less support in the primary, although the source material says it remains unclear how much of a threat he poses to the incumbent’s reelection bid.
Alaska uses ranked-choice voting in general elections for congressional offices. The similar names could create confusion for some voters, and the source reports that voters who intend to support the incumbent might rank both candidates, with those votes likely to transfer to Senator Sullivan.
The contest is expected to be closely watched. Peltola, a former US House representative, is challenging Senator Sullivan for his third term, and polls cited in the report show the two candidates running nearly level. Alaska has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 2008.
