Alaska election officials have officially booted “Decoy Dan” Sullivan from the U.S. Senate ballot after concluding his campaign appeared designed to confuse voters and undermine the integrity of the election.
In a bombshell ruling Monday, Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher disqualified Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. from the state’s closely watched Senate race, finding that his candidacy was likely filed “with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”
The decision follows weeks of scrutiny surrounding Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher who entered the race as a Republican despite having no meaningful history with the GOP — and despite sharing the same first and last name as incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. (RELATED: Alaska Moves To Disqualify Namesake Challenger To Republican Senator)
Republicans had blasted the candidacy as an apparent political dirty trick aimed at siphoning votes from the senator, a Trump-endorsed conservative seeking a third term in office.
Beecher’s ruling details a series of red flags that election officials say point to a deliberate effort to create voter confusion.
According to the letter, Daniel Sullivan sought to appear on the ballot simply as “Dan Sullivan” even though he is registered as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” Beecher also noted that he attempted at one point to use the incumbent senator’s middle initial.
“‘S’ is Senator Sullivan’s middle initial, not yours,” Beecher wrote.
Election officials also cited the candidate’s last-minute switch to the Republican Party and a campaign website that allegedly mirrored the incumbent’s branding, including its color scheme and overall design.
Perhaps most notably, Beecher pointed to ties between Sullivan’s campaign and Democrat political consultant Amber Lee, who has previously worked with Democrats in Alaska, including allies of former Rep. Mary Peltola.
Metadata associated with Sullivan’s campaign launch reportedly identified Lee as the author of campaign materials.
“This consultant’s 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.”
The controversy erupted after Republicans raised alarms that Democrats were attempting to plant a same-name candidate on the ballot in hopes of peeling votes away from the incumbent Sullivan.
Under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, both Sullivan candidates could have advanced out of the primary if they finished among the top four vote-getters, creating the possibility of significant voter confusion heading into the general election.
The race has become a major battleground as Democrats target Alaska in their effort to regain control of the Senate. Former Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola is challenging Sullivan after being recruited into the race by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to previous reporting.
While Democrats have repeatedly denied any involvement with Daniel Sullivan’s campaign, Republicans say the circumstances surrounding his candidacy raised serious questions.
Sen. Sullivan previously accused the challenger of helping Democrats attempt to “rig” the election.
“Is Schumer or Gillibrand and their staffs or the DSCC or the staff at the DSCC — were they aware? Were they coordinating, orchestrating?” Sullivan told Fox News Digital last week. “I mean, if that’s the case, that would be a huge scandal.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee celebrated the ruling after urging state officials to investigate the candidacy.
“Alaskans saw right through Chuck Schumer and Mary Peltola’s 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.”
Daniel Sullivan can appeal the decision, but for now, Alaska election officials have made their position clear: voters deserve a ballot free from deliberate deception.
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