Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is pulling no punches when it comes to unmasking an 11th-hour challenger who has the same name, albeit with a different middle initial.
In a recent exclusive interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, the sitting senator accused Democrats of orchestrating a scheme to confuse Alaska voters in order to grease the skids for Democrat challenger Mary Peltola.
Sullivan claimed that both Peltola and U.S. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were in on the ploy to run a challenger by the name of Dan. J. Sullivan.
“Schumer has said his path to the majority – majority leader – the ultimate power for him, runs through Alaska,” Sullivan told Raju. “I think the Democrats saw, ‘Hey, geez, Dan Sullivan has got a great record.’ Their opponent, Peltola, doesn’t have anything. Dan Sullivan’s got a real strong vision for Alaska. She doesn’t. Schumer doesn’t. So, it’s not gotten to the point where they want it, so they’re like, now, ‘we’ve got to cheat, so let’s cheat.’”
Sullivan added that this is an extremely serious matter that deserves legal scrutiny.
“Democrats recruited a guy by the name of Dan Sullivan,” he said. “He is a liberal progressive. We’ve seen his donations to all the far-left groups. He’s donated to Peltola. And his whole purpose of running is to confuse Alaskans to make Alaskan voters think that somehow he’s me, so they could rig the vote in favor of Mary Peltola.”
Sullivan noted that his opponent of the same name also filed as a Republican.
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“He’s not a Republican. It’s kind of a joke,” the senator said. “Of course he’s not a Republican, but he filed as a Republican, because he wants Dan Sullivan with an ‘R,’ and I’m Dan Sullivan with the ‘R.’ Everybody knows me as the Republican.”
Sullivan said his last-minute challenger’s entire campaign is “meant to confuse Alaskans.”
“When he filed, his campaign logo, his letterhead, his website, all had my campaign logo, that I’ve had for 13 years,” Sullivan observed. “He stole it … I’d say about 98% similar. Why would he do that? To confuse Alaskans.”
Sullivan called him “the sham candidate” and urged Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom to remove him from the ballot because the entire candidacy is an attempt to sow mass confusion.
“You don’t have a right to run for office if your primary intent is to confuse the voters and rig the election in favor of someone else.”
Sullivan said that he is prepared to file litigation if the other Sullivan remains on the ballot.
