Judge Rules on Alaska Senate Primary Candidate
A judge decided on Friday that a candidate who shares the same last name as Republican Senator Dan Sullivan is eligible to run against him in Alaska’s upcoming primary in August.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews overturned a previous ruling by the Director of Elections, Carol Beecher, who had disqualified this candidate from voting. Matthews stated that Beecher didn’t adhere to the Constitution, state law, or the division’s established regulations when making her decision.
The judge pointed out that the disqualification seemed based on a newly introduced standard of “good faith.” Beecher had claimed that Dan J. Sullivan, a former teacher who recently switched party affiliation to Republican, did not start his campaign with “good faith” and aimed to “confuse and mislead” voters at the polls.
Senator Sullivan is pursuing a third term in office, and the situation has stirred some tension. Democrats are hopeful that former Representative Mary Peltola, with the help from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, could defeat Sullivan in the upcoming election.
The Alaska Elections Department announced plans to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. The deadline for a final decision is set for Tuesday, just in time to ensure primary ballots are printed by August 18.
Previously, Senator Sullivan expressed skepticism about the intentions of his namesake, suggesting that Dan J. Sullivan’s goal was not to win but rather to create confusion and possibly aid the Democratic candidate.
In Alaska, where ranked-choice voting is used, name confusion could have significant implications. If both Dan S. Sullivan and Dan J. Sullivan make it through the primary, they could both advance to the general election, where the top four vote-getters will proceed.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Dan J. Sullivan argue that the Constitution only requires three qualifications for running for Senate: age, citizenship, and residency. They contend that these criteria shouldn’t allow for exclusion based on name similarity.
Interestingly, Dan J. Sullivan has acknowledged that sharing a name with the senator provides him an “instant megaphone,” though his frustrations with the incumbent have influenced his decision to run.
Election officials maintain that there’s no compelling reason to include him on the ballot or find solutions to minimize voter confusion. They emphasize that the Constitution does not mandate states to include, what they describe as, “fake candidates” on the ballot.
