Imagine an Alaska Republican going to the polls in November to re-elect Sen. Dan Sullivan, only to see two GOP candidates on the ballot by that name. This trick might have helped Democrats flip a Senate seat, but on Monday state election officials disqualified the apparent impostor from the ballot.
The letter from Carol Beecher, head of the Division of Elections, is almost comical. “You requested to access the ballot under the name ‘Dan Sullivan’ even though it appears from Division records that you have never registered to vote or sought ballot access under this name,” Ms. Beecher writes. “You are registered to vote under the name ‘Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.’”
Even better: “You initially emailed the Division asking to be listed on the ballot as ‘Dan S. Sullivan,’” she says. “‘S’ is Senator Sullivan’s middle initial, not yours.” Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. also asked to be listed as a GOP candidate. “Until two days before you filed your declaration of candidacy, you had never—according to the Division’s records—been affiliated with the Republican Party in Alaska.”
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.’s website “uses a format, color scheme and overall theme similar to the public website for Senator Sullivan’s campaign,” which suggests “an intention not to distinguish yourself from the incumbent Senator as any candidate genuinely seeking office would do, but to confuse Alaskans,” Ms. Beecher adds. A consultant working with his campaign “is a known longtime supporter” of former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who is Sen. Sullivan’s principal challenger.
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