Dan Sullivan accuses challenger of trying to rig Senate race

A strange name game in Alaska

Sen. Dan Sullivan is fighting for a third term in Alaska, but his first problem is not even the Democrat in the race. It is another Republican candidate named Dan J. Sullivan, and the senator says that is no accident. Sullivan argues the newcomer is trying to confuse voters and help the left by making it harder for Alaskans to tell the two men apart on the ballot. In politics, coincidence often wears a funny hat, but this one has raised enough eyebrows to make even seasoned Alaska observers stop and take a closer look.

Election officials start asking questions

Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees elections, sent Dan J. Sullivan a letter saying there were credible allegations that he filed to run in a way meant to mislead voters. She asked him to explain his political background and whether he had been a Republican before launching his Senate bid, and she requested a sworn affidavit by Wednesday. The concern is simple and serious: if a candidate uses an identical name to soak up votes meant for someone else, that is not healthy competition, it is ballot trickery with a campaign brochure. Dahlstrom said that if the allegations are true, it would be an unprecedented situation.

Democrats, donors, and a bigger Senate fight

The National Republican Senatorial Committee also asked the Federal Election Commission to look into what it called a coordinated scheme involving Dan J. Sullivan and Alaska Democratic consultant Amber Lee, who has worked on Democratic efforts in the state. Fox News Digital reported that campaign metadata listed Lee as the author of the announcement, and records show Dan J. Sullivan previously donated to former Rep. Mary Peltola, the top Democrat in the race. Sullivan says that points to a larger effort to weaken him while Democrats try to flip the Alaska seat. He has also raised the issue with Democratic colleagues, though he says they have acted surprised, which is interesting considering how often surprise shows up right when a political mess starts to smell. The Senate race is already headed for a hard fight, and Alaska’s ranked-choice system makes the name confusion even more important because voters must sort out who they really want at each stage.