Alaska’s Two Dan Sullivans, Explained

Reporting as of October 28, 2026, 5 p.m. ET · Election Day is Tuesday, November 3

Alaska’s Senate race between Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) and former Rep. Mary Peltola (D) is one of seven Toss-Ups on Cook Political Report’s board. Its ballot also carries a second Dan Sullivan: Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg. Republicans have argued since he entered the race that his candidacy is meant to confuse voters. On October 28, The New York Times reported that people working with Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee helped put him there. Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC deny it.

Who the two Dan Sullivans are

Daniel J. Sullivan registered as a Republican when he filed to run. In August, he listed himself as “undeclared” on an absentee ballot request, which changed his registration, the Alaska Beacon reported on October 26. He first told the Beacon he had not requested the change, then recognized it when the Division of Elections provided a copy of the form. The general election ballot lists him as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” with no party, and the senator as “Dan S. Sullivan,” marked Republican and incumbent.

What The New York Times reported

The Times story, by Kellen Browning, was published October 28. According to the Times and the outlets that summarized it:

• Aides to Peltola’s campaign and DSCC staff were part of a monthslong effort to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan. The Times cited interviews with at least a dozen people, text messages, and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit.
• The effort began in 2025, when aides were asked to list Alaskans named Dan Sullivan.
• A Democratic operative, Jerid Kurtz, approached Sullivan in Petersburg about running.
• The group also tried to coax other would-be spoilers into the race.
• DSCC staffers were on text threads with the Peltola campaign that discussed the second Sullivan. Peltola herself does not appear to have been on those texts.
• One source was Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, who was fired in August. She spoke on the record, then asked the Times to disregard her comments; the paper declined.

What each side says

“Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done, A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the Ballot.”President Trump on Truth Social, October 28

Trump also wrote that Democrats had made “false statements” under oath in federal court and “should be liable for very serious consequences.”

How he got on the ballot

Alaska’s Division of Elections tried to keep Daniel J. Sullivan off the ballot. A top state elections official ruled him ineligible, saying his filing was made “with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.” The Alaska Supreme Court reversed that ruling and found him qualified. The U.S. Constitution sets only age, citizenship and residency requirements for senators.

He then finished third in the August 18 top-four primary, behind Peltola (49.5%) and Sen. Sullivan (41.4%), which put him on the November ballot.

The Justice Department lawsuit

1. October 22At President Trump’s direction, the Justice Department sues Alaska election officials over the second Sullivan’s candidacy.
2. October 26U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason sets an expedited schedule and agrees to fast-track requests from Peltola’s campaign and the League of Women Voters of Alaska to join the case. She notes the suit came after Alaskans had already begun voting.
3. October 27State election officials ask Gleason to dismiss the case.
4. October 28The Times report is published. Gleason said she would rule on the requests to join the case by 5 p.m. Alaska time.

What the government wants: a court order barring certification if Sen. Sullivan loses and would have won had the votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan gone to him instead. It also asks for an inquiry into whether those voters meant to choose the senator. The government argues that Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot “threatens to mislead Alaskan citizens who want to vote for Senator Sullivan.”

What the state says: the federal government has no authority over how candidates qualify for a state ballot and no legal interest in a particular outcome. The state’s lawyers also wrote, “Like every state in the union, Alaska protects the secrecy of the ballot by law,” which would make it hard to determine how anyone meant to vote.

Does the Times report change the case? Legal experts told the AP it will not. Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor, called the alleged recruitment “a dirty campaign trick” and said the Alaska Supreme Court should have allowed the candidate’s removal, but added that “it’s now in the hands of the voters, not litigation.”

What it means for the count

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting in its general election. Voters can rank as many of the four candidates as they like. If no one wins a majority of first choices, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots move to each voter’s next choice. That repeats until someone has a majority.

That matters here. If a voter ranked Daniel J. Sullivan first and the senator second, the ballot would move to the senator once Daniel J. Sullivan was eliminated. A ballot that ranked only Daniel J. Sullivan would not transfer to anyone.

Alaska counts mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive within the following days, so the ranked-choice tabulation will not run until November 18, with certification targeted for November 25. Unless one candidate wins an outright majority of first choices, expect the result weeks after election night.

Where the race stands: Peltola has led most public polls narrowly. PPP (Oct. 14–15) had her ahead 48–47. Cook rates the race a Toss-Up, Sabato Leans D and Inside Elections Tilt R. The Silver Bulletin’s polling average had Peltola up 3.6 points on October 28.

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