Same name, same race: The candidate shaking up the Alaska election
Two candidates named Dan Sullivan are running for a Senate seat, and one of them even had to fight in court to appear on the ballot. Republicans claim that the candidate with the identical name is intended to confuse voters and split the vote. Now, the US Department of Justice has issued subpoenas as part of an investigation into the affair.
The Senate election in Alaska has become one of the most intriguing races in the United States, and not just because of the political struggle between the candidates. At the center of the race are two candidates with the same name: the incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, and another Republican candidate named Dan J. Sullivan.
The state's primary elections were held on Tuesday, with 16 candidates competing for the Senate nomination. The system in Alaska differs from that used in most US states: all candidates run in the same election, and the four candidates who receive the highest number of votes advance to the general election in November, where ranked-choice voting takes place.
Standing out in the Senate race were the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican serving his second term, and former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. The race could affect the battle for control of the US Senate, and therefore it has received significant attention from political entities on both sides.
Sullivan, an army veteran and ally of President Donald Trump, ran a campaign focused on supporting the military, expanding areas where oil and gas drilling is permitted, and his vote in favor of Trump's tax and spending law. Peltola, for her part, re-adopted the slogan "Fish, Family, Freedom," with which she was first elected in 2022, and attacked the political system which she claims allows special interest holders and politicians to get rich.
But the one who stole a significant part of the show was the third candidate - Dan J. Sullivan.
Sullivan, the second candidate, a retired teacher from the town of Petersburg, fought to be included on the ballot after the incumbent Senator and his allies in the Republican Party claimed that he was a fictitious candidate who entered the race at the request of the Democrats with the goal of confusing voters and taking votes away from the Senator.
Dan J. Sullivan rejected the claims and said that his frustration with the incumbent Senator was what led him to run. He even won a legal battle that allowed him to appear on the ballot.
To reduce the possibility of confusion, he appeared on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. In contrast, the incumbent Senator appeared as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and "incumbent." According to the AP agency, no other candidate running in the Alaska election carries the "incumbent" designation.
The affair also attracted the attention of President Trump. Days before the primary elections, he published a statement of support for the incumbent Senator and called the candidacy of the other Sullivan an attempt to "cheat" the voters. Trump called on his supporters to vote for the incumbent Sullivan.
And now the affair is taking another turn: according to a report by the Reuters news agency, the US Department of Justice has issued subpoenas as part of an investigation concerning the race. According to the report, the Department of Justice is examining whether Dan J. Sullivan entered the race with the goal of confusing voters and taking votes away from the incumbent Senator. And this is even before the publication of the results of the primary elections that were held yesterday.
