Dan Sullivan Brings GOP 'Headache' in Alaska

Alaska voters just locked in a political oddity: a Senate race with two Dan Sullivans on the November ballot. Incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan will face retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan, plus Democrat Mary Peltola, after the latter Sullivan advanced from the state's top-four primary. That result was confirmed early Wednesday, per Politico. Dan J. Sullivan is running as a Republican after the folding of his former party, the Alaska Independence Party, per NBC News.

Republicans tried and failed to block him from running, alleging he was part of a Democratic ploy to siphon GOP votes, a claim both he and Peltola's camp reject amid an ongoing investigation. Allies of the senator, backed by a former Anchorage mayor of the same name, are now emphasizing his middle initial in ads to cut through confusion. Dan J. Sullivan only nabbed a few thousand votes in the primary, but any votes for him in the ranked-choice general election "could be decisive in a narrow race," the New York Times reports, calling the development a "headache" for Republicans. Another Republican candidate, Gerald Heikes, may also join the ballot.