Election Official Rules Candidate With Same Name As GOP Incumbent Is Ineligible To Run

A top Alaska election official ruled Monday that a Senate candidate with the same name as Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan is ineligible to be on the state’s primary ballot in August.

Division of 🗳️Elections Director Carol Beecher informed Dan J. Sullivan that his declaration for candidacy “was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy,” but rather to confuse voters into voting for the wrong Sullivan. The other Sullivan’s candidacy raised speculation that supporters of former Democratic Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola attempted to place him on the ballot to confuse voters and in turn help Peltola win the Senate race.

“On review of the complaints and other information in the Division’s possession, I conclude that your declaration of candidacy was not properly filed with the Division because it was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality,” Beecher wrote.

The other Sullivan can appeal this ruling.

Beecher issued a preliminary ruling Wednesday that the other Sullivan was ineligible, though she gave him a chance to make his case before she handed down a final decision.

“Based on a review of the evidence presented and in the Division’s possession, the Division has determined that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator,” Beecher wrote Wednesday.