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Alaska's open primary, which advances the top four finishers regardless of party to a ranked-choice general election, produced an unusual November ballot on Tuesday: incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan moved forward alongside a same-name challenger whom the senator and others characterize as a confusion candidate placed to siphon votes.
Senator Dan Sullivan finished close behind Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola in the primary count. The second Dan Sullivan, identified in state voter records as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., came in a distant third.
The suspected tactic follows a recognizable pattern.
Sullivan Jr., a retired federal employee and teacher, initially filed for the ballot under the name "Dan Sullivan." Alaska's Division of Elections treated that as evidence he intended voters to mistake him for the incumbent, given that his voter registration records carried his full name.
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