MAGA Senator’s Name Twin Banned From Ballot

Republican candidate Dan J. Sullivan will not be on the ballot in his challenge to unseat GOP Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, announced his candidacy last month, but his name caught the ire of Sen. Sullivan, who claimed he was only running to confuse voters. Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher, who was appointed to the nonpartisan role by the state’s Republican lieutenant governor, sent a letter to challenger Sullivan on Monday, declaring that he “filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality,” and said his name would not appear on the ballot. She noted that he could appeal the decision. Until his disqualification, challenger Sullivan had pushed back on Sen. Sullivan’s claims, saying he “met the qualification and I entered this race because I am unhappy with the 12-year record of the current Senator and I feel we need a change.” Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, so the two who get the most votes in the primary will face off in the November midterm elections. Democrats have recruited former Congresswoman Mary Peltola, who remains popular in the state, to run for the seat. The Alaska primary is Aug. 18.

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