By Ryan Patrick Jones
June 8 (Reuters) – Alaska’s top elections official on Monday opened an investigation into a U.S. Senate candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, citing allegations the challenger filed his candidacy to mislead voters.
Alaska Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican who oversees elections in the state, said the investigation would determine whether Daniel James Sullivan Jr. – who uses the name “Dan Sullivan” on his campaign website – may appear on the August 18 primary ballot.
In a letter to the challenger, Dahlstrom said the state had received credible allegations he filed in coordination with another campaign to capitalize on the shared first and last name and same party affiliation.
It was alleged, Dahlstrom wrote, that Sullivan intended to “confuse or deceive” voters seeking to reelect Senator Sullivan into mistakenly voting for him instead.
If true, she wrote, the allegations would “amount to not only deception of voters but diminish the rights of another candidate.”
The challenger’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Senator Sullivan’s campaign.
The unelected Sullivan, a former U.S. Forest Service worker and elementary school teacher, filed to run as a candidate on May 29 seeking to unseat Senator Sullivan and “put Alaska first,” according to his campaign website, which advertised “Dan Sullivan Challenges Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate Seat.”
The lieutenant governor requested that Sullivan submit a sworn affidavit by Wednesday answering whether he was previously affiliated with the Republican Party, what name versions he used in past voter registrations and whether he intentionally mimicked the senator’s website and logo.
Dahlstrom also asked whether Sullivan had interactions with a consultant, any other Senate candidate, or any Democratic Party agent about his candidacy, and whether he would object to appearing on the ballot as “Sullivan, Daniel James Jr. (non-incumbent).”
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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