{"id":333423,"date":"2026-06-15T23:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/same-name-candidate-disqualified-from-key-senate-race-over-alleged-dem-scheme-to-confuse-voters.html"},"modified":"2026-06-15T23:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:01:19","slug":"same-name-candidate-disqualified-from-key-senate-race-over-alleged-dem-scheme-to-confuse-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/same-name-candidate-disqualified-from-key-senate-race-over-alleged-dem-scheme-to-confuse-voters.html","title":{"rendered":"Same-name candidate disqualified from key Senate race over alleged Dem scheme to confuse voters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">     <span class=\"overlay\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">Video<\/span><\/a> <!--&gt; \n\n<h4 class=\"title\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Russo-Chinese incursions into US' front yard spur race to secure America's Arctic as ancient base gets reboot<\/a><\/h4>\n\n \n\n<p data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">Sen. Dan Sullivan, on the front lines of securing America's Arctic, sounds off on newly-funded plans to reopen a World War II base, provide new Arctic icebreakers and dig a crucial deepwater port near Russia.<\/p>\n\n \n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">A top Alaska election official booted a same-name Republican challenger to Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, from the primary ballot Monday, ruling the campaign appeared designed to confuse voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher disqualified Dan J. Sullivan from the state\u2019s hotly-contested Senate race over concerns that his candidacy was \"filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot\u2019s fairness or neutrality,\" in a letter published Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Dan J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher who filed as a Republican Senate candidate despite having no prior affiliation with the GOP, can appeal the ruling, Beecher wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The letter caps weeks of outrage from the GOP, who argued the political newcomer\u2019s entry into the race just days before the filing deadline was a <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">covert attempt<\/a> by Democrats to recruit a \"sham\" candidate into the race to confuse voters.<\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Newly-introduced Senate candidate Dan Sullivan, left, pictured alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan, D-Alaska, right.<\/span> <span>(Sullivan for U.S. Senate; Brandon Bell-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>GOP FIGHTS TO STOP MULTIPLE DAN SULLIVANS FROM APPEARING ON ALASKA BALLOT, CALLS CANDIDACY A 'SHAM'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Under Alaska\u2019s ranked-choice voting system, if Dan J. Sullivan had been allowed to remain on the August primary ballot, both he and Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent, could have advanced to the general election among the top four vote-getters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Democrats are eying Alaska as a potential flip opportunity as the party mounts a longshot bid to retake control of the upper chamber during the midterms. The incumbent Sullivan is running for a third Senate term against former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, who was recruited by Senate Minority Leader <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Chuck Schumer,<\/a> D-N.Y., into the battleground contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Beecher cited several details about Dan J. Sullivan\u2019s campaign that led to her conclusion that it was not filed in \"good-faith.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The political newcomer requested to appear on the ballot as \"Dan Sullivan\" despite registering to vote under the name \"Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.,\" according to the letter. The longshot candidate also attempted to register with the incumbent's initial on one occasion, according to Beecher's letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"\u2018S\u2019 is Senator Sullivan\u2019s middle initial, not yours,\" Beecher wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The election official also noted that Dan J. Sullivan had not registered as a Republican before launching his Senate campaign and that his new website used a \"color scheme and overall theme\" similar to the incumbent\u2019s campaign materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Additionally, Beecher discussed Dan J. Sullivan\u2019s connection to Amber Lee, an Alaska Democratic consultant who has previously supported Peltola. Metadata from the campaign\u2019s launch identified the Democratic operative as its author, Fox News Digital previously reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, is running to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/span> <span>(Jabin Botsford\/The Washington Post)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>FORMER DEM REP. MARY PELTOLA ANNOUNCES U.S. SENATE RUN: \"PUT ALASKA FIRST\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"This consultant\u2019s work on your behalf is, in isolation, innocuous,\" Beecher wrote. \"Alongside the other facts I have catalogued in this letter, however, it suggests a determined effort and a deliberate attempt to use the similarity of your name to confuse Alaska voters in the upcoming primary election.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Dan J. Sullivan\u2019s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The incumbent Sullivan previously blasted his <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">same-name challenger<\/a> as a \"far-left liberal\" who was complicit in Democrats\u2019 efforts to \"rig\" the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"Is Schumer or Gillibrand and their staffs or the DSCC or the staff at the DSCC \u2014 were they aware? Were they coordinating, orchestrating?\u2029I mean, if that's the case, that would be a huge scandal,\" Sullivan told Fox News Digital last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Democrats have denied any involvement with Dan J. Sullivan\u2019s campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Senate Republicans\u2019 campaign arm, took a victory lap after urging Beecher to investigate the same-name challenger\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"Alaskans saw right through Chuck Schumer and Mary Peltola\u2019s tricks to confuse and deceive them with a sham candidate,\" NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia said in a statement. \"Nobody delivers for Alaskans like Senator Dan Sullivan, which is why Alaska Last Democrats like Mary Peltola are stooping so low.\"<\/p>\n\n  \n\n<p><span>Democrats have dismissed allegations that party operatives are behind Dan J. Sullivan's campaign.<\/span> <span>(Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Dan J. Sullivans\u2019 attempt to qualify for the primary ballot also sparked sharp criticism from Senate Republicans, who are expected to aggressively campaign to defend Sullivan\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">\"Even by Chuck Schumer's low standards, this was an outrageous attempt to trick Alaska voters and rig the election,\" Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Monday.<\/p>\n\n --> <!--&gt; --><\/p>\n<p>Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/name-candidate-disqualified-key-senate-race-alleged-dem-scheme-confuse-voters<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/name-candidate-disqualified-key-senate-race-alleged-dem-scheme-confuse-voters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-333423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333423\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}