Alaska’s Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher has officially determined that Alaska candidate Daniel J. Sullivan of Petersburg is barred from challenging Sen. Dan Sullivan in the U.S. Senate race.
The June 15 ruling concludes that Daniel Sullivan’s declaration of candidacy was not filed in good faith to pursue the office but instead appears intended to confuse or mislead voters by mimicking the incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The decision follows two complaints filed by attorney Stacey Stone on behalf of Alaska Republican Party Chair Carmela Warfield. On June 10, the Division notified Sullivan of the complaints and gave him until 5 p.m. on June 11 to submit additional evidence supporting his eligibility. He provided none.
Beecher’s letter states that Alaska Statute 15.25.060 requires the Division to place properly filed candidates on the primary ballot. However, 6 AAC 25.212 prohibits names or filings that are confusing or misleading to voters or that compromise the fairness or neutrality of the ballot. After reviewing the complaints and Division records, Beecher found the preponderance of evidence showed Sullivan’s filing did not meet these standards.
The determination rests on four key facts. First, Sullivan requested ballot access under the name “Dan Sullivan,” although Division records show he is registered to vote as “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” and had never previously used or sought access under the shortened name. He initially emailed the Division requesting to be listed as “Dan S. Sullivan,” adopting the middle initial of the incumbent. Beecher concluded this choice suggested an effort to blur distinctions with Senator Sullivan rather than to present a clearly separate candidacy.
Second, Sullivan designated “Republican” as his party affiliation. Records indicate he had never been affiliated with the Republican Party in Alaska until changing his registration just two days before filing his declaration. The incumbent senator is a Republican. The timing of adopting both the name style and party affiliation of the sitting senator, Beecher wrote, strongly indicated an intent was merely to confuse voters.
Third, Daniel Sullivan’s campaign website, sullivanforsenate.com, uses a format, color scheme, and overall theme similar to the incumbent’s site, dansullivanforalaska.com. While the Division takes no position on intellectual property questions, the similarity appears deliberate when viewed alongside the other facts.
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Fourth, a political consultant working with Daniel Sullivan’s campaign is a well-known longtime supporter of Democratic candidates, including the primary Democratic challenger to Sen. Dan Sullivan. In combination with the name, party, and website similarities, this reinforced the conclusion of a deliberate attempt to use name similarity to confuse primary voters.
Beecher described the circumstances as “unique, and to my knowledge utterly unprecedented facts,” unlike any previously presented to the Division. She concluded that the sworn declaration stating Daniel Sullivan was a candidate for U.S. Senate “was not filed in good faith for the purpose of genuinely pursuing election as Alaska’s U.S. Senator.” Instead, it was filed to confuse or mislead the electorate and compromise ballot fairness.
As a result, the Division has de-certified Daniel Sullivan’s candidacy and will not place his name on the primary ballot. Ballots are scheduled to be printed on June 28. Daniel Sullivan has 30 days to appeal the final determination by seeking judicial relief in Alaska Superior Court. The letter was copied to Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom.
