Alaska investigates challenger accused of confusing voters with senator's name

A same-name Senate candidacy in Alaska has triggered a state investigation into whether a challenger was filed to confuse voters and alter the shape of a closely watched race. Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom said officials opened the case on June 8 after what she called “credible allegations” that Daniel James Sullivan Jr. coordinated with another campaign. The question now is whether Alaska election rules justify keeping him on the August 18 primary ballot, or removing him before voters decide who advances.

Dahlstrom asked Sullivan to answer under oath about his name, his recent affiliation with the Republican Party and any contact with the Democratic Party or another candidate. She also asked whether he would object to the label “non-incumbent” appearing next to his name and to the removal of his Republican designation. Under Alaska’s system, all candidates appear together on the same primary ballot, and the top four vote-getters move on to the November 3 general election, where ranked-choice voting decides the winner.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee escalated the fight on June 2, sending a letter asking Alaska officials to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot. The committee said his candidacy was “confusing or misleading” under Alaska ballot regulations and described it as a sham. Sen. Dan Sullivan has also publicly accused the challenger of cheating and said he was trying to rig the election in favor of someone else. His campaign spokesman, Nate Adams, called Sullivan Jr. a “sham candidate” and said the campaign was dishonest.

Sullivan Jr. has denied wrongdoing. In a letter to the state, he said he was running because of his dissatisfaction with Sen. Sullivan, and that the senator’s shared first and last names motivated him to offer himself as an alternative choice for Alaskans. He denied any coordination with Mary Peltola or Democrats, and Peltola’s campaign and the Alaska Democratic Party have publicly denied any affiliation with him. A Peltola spokesperson said she had no involvement with his campaign.

The dispute carries outsized weight because Alaska’s Senate contest is one of the nation’s most closely watched battlegrounds, with national Democrats and Republicans pouring in resources. Mary Peltola announced her Senate campaign on January 12, 2026, and the field now includes 16 candidates, among them seven Republicans, three Democrats, three independents, a Green Party candidate and a Libertarian. Sen. Dan Sullivan first took office in 2015 and won reelection in 2020 with 54% of the vote. Alaska adopted ranked-choice voting after a 2020 ballot measure passed by 51% to 49%, and the state’s crowded top-four primary is now testing whether ballot rules can stop confusion before it reaches the general election.