Nothing has happened to Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan himself. He is still on the Nov. 3 ballot seeking a third term against Democrat Mary Peltola. The reason his name is trending is that a second Dan Sullivan is on the same ballot, and that is now a federal court case and a campaign scandal. On Oct. 22, the Justice Department sued to block certification of the Senate result if the senator loses narrowly. On Oct. 28, The New York Times reported that Peltola-aligned operatives recruited the other Sullivan to run. Peltola’s campaign denies any involvement. A federal judge could rule on dismissing the lawsuit as soon as Friday, Oct. 30.
Two Dan Sullivans, side by side
Most of the confusion online is about which Sullivan is which. Here is how the two candidates compare, based on reporting by Al Jazeera and Yahoo News.
| Sen. Dan S. Sullivan | Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. | |
|---|---|---|
| Who he is | Incumbent Republican senator, first elected in 2014 and reelected in 2020; former Alaska attorney general | Retired elementary schoolteacher and former U.S. Forest Service employee from Petersburg in southeast Alaska |
| How he appears on the ballot | “Sullivan, Dan S (Registered Republican) Incumbent” | “Sullivan, Daniel J Jr,” with no party designation |
| Party registration | Republican | Switched from unaffiliated to Republican just before the filing deadline, then back to unaffiliated, per Yahoo News |
| August primary result | About 41%, behind Peltola’s 49.5% | 4,107 votes, enough to finish in the top four |
| Prior campaigns | Statewide winner twice | Never before ran for public office |
| Position on the dispute | His campaign says Peltola’s team “colluded” to deceive voters | Says he is running in good faith and has denied any connection to Peltola’s campaign |
Alaska’s Division of Elections removed Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot in June. State courts restored him, and the Alaska Supreme Court allowed him to stay on the ballot, Al Jazeera and Yahoo News reported.
What the Justice Department wants a judge to do
The federal suit, United States v. State of Alaska, was filed Oct. 22 in the U.S. District Court for Alaska. As NBC News described it, the department wants a court order blocking certification if two things are both true: Sen. Sullivan loses, and he would have won had every vote for Daniel J. Sullivan gone to him instead under the ranked-choice count. The filing argues that “some supporters of Senator Sullivan likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan.”
President Trump has said he ordered the suit. “I’m the one that said do it,” he said, according to Yahoo News. The case relies on the National Voter Registration Act. Election law experts quoted by Al Jazeera and Yahoo News have questioned that basis. Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller called the argument “so absurdly thin” that it had “essentially no likelihood of success.” Alaska’s Republican-led state government and Peltola’s campaign have moved to dismiss the case, and the League of Women Voters of Alaska has sought to join it, arguing along with them that no law allows this kind of federal intervention. As of Al Jazeera’s Oct. 24 report, no court had ordered Alaska to suspend certification.
What The New York Times reported on Oct. 28
On Wednesday, the Times published an investigation into what it said was an effort internally called the “ballot composition project.” According to the Times, as summarized by Alaska Public Media and Yahoo News, people working with Peltola’s campaign, the campaign’s lawyers and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) took part in an effort to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan and other potential spoiler candidates to split the incumbent’s support. Yahoo News reported that the Times cited 12 people who took part in or were told of the plan, along with text messages and internal documents.
Points to keep in mind about the report:
- These are allegations. Alaska Public Media said it had not independently confirmed the Times’ reporting. No one has been charged.
- The campaign denies it. “The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign,” Peltola’s campaign said, according to Alaska Public Media. Peltola called the story a distraction. The DSCC has also denied involvement.
- A key source tried to retract. Former Peltola campaign manager Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, spoke to the Times and later tried to take back her statements before publication, Yahoo News reported.
- Legality is disputed. The Times called ballot-stacking “generally considered legal,” per Yahoo News. A Republican National Committee spokesman told Alaska Public Media it could break federal campaign finance law if a super PAC coordinated with the campaign.
Reaction split along party lines. Trump wrote that Peltola “should suffer the Legal and Political consequences,” Alaska Public Media reported. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has endorsed Sullivan, said Alaskans “deserve the honest truth from Mary and her campaign.”
Our analysis: how ranked-choice voting changes the math
The lawsuit’s premise is that confused voters could cost the senator the race. Alaska’s ballot design makes that harder than it sounds, though not impossible. Voters rank the four finalists. 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.
Take a voter who meant to back the senator but marked Daniel J. Sullivan first by mistake. If that voter also ranked the senator second, the vote moves to the senator once the lesser-known Sullivan is eliminated. The ballot loses its value only if the voter ranked no one else, and Alaska Public Media noted that some voters in every race don’t rank their ballots. Political scientist Glenn Wright told Al Jazeera the system “is actually designed to cope with this sort of a thing.”
What that means for Alaska voters before Nov. 3:
- Read the party label and the word “Incumbent” next to each Sullivan.
- Rank more than one candidate if you want your ballot to count in later rounds.
- Early voting is heavy. More than 60,000 Alaskans had already voted by Wednesday, according to state figures reported by Alaska Public Media.
What happens next
U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason put the case on a fast track on Oct. 26. Late Wednesday she let the Democratic-side challenge proceed and gave the Justice Department until Thursday afternoon to respond, according to Yahoo News. Alaska Public Media reported that a ruling on the motions to dismiss could come as soon as Friday afternoon. The race itself is close: the Cook Political Report rates it a toss-up, and recent polls show Peltola ahead by about 2 points, Yahoo News reported. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats to Democrats’ 47 (including two independents who caucus with them), so the seat could matter for control of the chamber.
We are tracking the ruling and Election Night results on our trends news page. More national coverage is in Top Stories.
Updated October 29, 2026