WASHINGTON — What’s in a name?
A politician named Dan Sullivan has chimed in on the bonkers Alaska Senate race saga over his namesakes, urging voters to back incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan over his foe, Dan Sullivan.
Former Anchorage Mayor Dan A. Sullivan endorsed the incumbent senator in the highly competitive Alaska Senate race ahead of the primary last Tuesday while noting the head-scratching situation over his name.
“As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan. He’s been great for Alaska,” he posted on Facebook last Tuesday.
The ex-mayor’s endorsement went viral days later on Sunday after it was highlighted on social media by VoteHub.
Alaska’s Senate race is widely seen as one of the most competitive in the country, alongside the contests in Michigan, Maine, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, and Ohio.
While Alaska has historically been a red state, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) has been remarkably competitive in most polls of the race.
Currently, she has a 5.4 percentage point edge over the incumbent senator in the latest tabulation of the Last Frontier State’s open primary last Tuesday, in which candidates from all parties competed and the top four advance to the general election in November.
Both Peltola and Sen. Sullivan have been projected to advance to the general election, while the other Dan Sullivan — retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan — appears poised to make the cut as well, despite outlets refraining from calling it that due to the outstanding votes left to be counted.
GOP critics have dubbed the retired teacher “Decoy Dan” and accused him of being a Democratic plant seeking to use his name to confuse voters in a remarkably competitive race.
The former public school teacher admitted to the New York Times that he voted for the Democratic candidate for president during the past three presidential elections, but insisted he’s a moderate Republican nonetheless.
Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system in its general election in which contests where no candidate locked down 50% or more support head to a second round, where voters who didn’t back either of their top two candidates have their next choice counted.
A lower court initially kicked “Decoy Dan” off the ballot, pointing to evidence that he wasn’t mounting “an actual good-faith candidacy,” noting he waited until days before filing to register as a Republican. But, ultimately, the Alaska Supreme Court let him back on.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department reportedly secured grand jury subpoenas to investigate the retired teacher.
