Alaska Supreme Court Lets Namesake Dan Sullivan Run in GOP Senate Primary

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, qualifies to appear on the Republican primary ballot for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. The decision follows Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’ order overturning a June 15 finding by the Alaska Division of Elections that the challenger’s filing was not made in “good‑faith” and was intended to confuse voters. Matthews held that the division lacked a legal basis for the disqualification, and the Supreme Court affirmed his ruling while sending the matter of ballot formatting back to the elections office.

The dispute centers on the two candidates sharing the same name and party affiliation, raising concerns that voters could be misled under Alaska’s ranked‑choice voting system. The race is one of several competitive Senate contests that could determine control of the chamber in the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term. Both the incumbent’s campaign and Republican state officials have called the challenger a “sham” candidate, while the challenger maintains his run is legitimate. The court’s order requires the elections division to list the challenger on the August primary ballot in accordance with existing Alaska ballot‑design law.