UPDATE
Jun 29, 2026 7:20 PM CDT
The Alaska Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a man with the same name and party affiliation as US Sen. Dan Sullivan is qualified to run for the seat and ordered elections officials to place him on the August primary ballot. The brief decision affirmed a lower-court ruling but delegated how the Republican challenger should be listed on the ballot to state elections officials "within the confines of existing Alaska ballot design law," the AP reports. The court said a full opinion explaining its decision would be released later.
Jun 27, 2026 3:35 PM CDT
Alaska voters may now see double in August's GOP Senate primary. A state judge on Friday reinstated Dan J. Sullivan—who shares both a name and party with Sen. Dan Sullivan—after elections officials tried to knock him off the ballot over concerns he was running in bad faith. Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled the Division of Elections had no legal basis for a new "good-faith" test that doesn't appear in the US Constitution, Alaska law, or state regulations, USA Today reports. He found the Petersburg resident meets all constitutional requirements for office and said the state failed to prove his candidacy was meant to trick voters. Matthews ordered Dan J. Sullivan placed on the Aug. 18 ballot; the state has appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court, which has scheduled a hearing for Monday.
The race is seen as one of the fall's more competitive Senate contests, heightening GOP worries that two Republican Dan Sullivans could confuse voters under Alaska's open primary and ranked-choice system. The incumbent has accused his namesake of coordinating with Democrats and Rep. Mary Peltola's camp, claims all involved deny. Dan J. Sullivan, 70, a retired teacher, filed the appeal after the elections agency earlier this month rejected his bid to be on the ballot, per the Anchorage Daily News.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
