Alaska Primary Challenger Who Has Same Name as Incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan Ineligible to Run: State Official

Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher said the challenger did not file his candidacy in good faith and was ineligible to appear on the ballot.

In this image provided by Karen Dillman, Alaska Senate candidate Dan Sullivan, one of the challengers to the incumbent senator, also named Dan Sullivan, poses for a photo on a hike on Kupreanof Island, near Petersburg, Alaska, on June 7, 2026. Karen Dillman via AP

An Alaskan whose name is the same as that of incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot, a state official has determined.

The “other” Dan Sullivan is a 69-year-old retired teacher hailing from Petersburg, Alaska, a small fishing village in the southeast of the state. His candidacy—given his shared name with the incumbent senator and the state’s nonpartisan primary system—drew alarm from Republicans. The challenger was accused of having links to the Senate campaign of former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) in an effort to reduce Sullivan’s vote share due to voter confusion.