Only 1 Dan Sullivan will appear on Alaska’s ballot

GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan won't face a same-name challenger after all.

Alaska's top elections official said Monday that Dan J. Sullivan was ineligible to appear on the August primary ballot for the state's critical Senate race after determining his candidacy was "not filed in good faith" but instead "with the purpose of confusing or misleading the electorate."

Director of Elections Carol Beecher's decision is a massive relief for the national GOP apparatus, which had accused Dan J. Sullivan of attempting to deceive voters by appearing on the ballot with the same name and party affiliation as the incumbent — and of working with an operative who previously backed former Rep. Mary Peltola to try to rig the Senate race in the Democrat's favor. Peltola's campaign had previously denied any involvement with either Sullivans' bids and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent senator, immediately took a victory lap on Monday.

"Every Alaskan has the right to a free and fair election, free from deception and gamesmanship. We thank Lieutenant Governor [Nancy] Dahlstrom for upholding that right and for ensuring Alaskans can choose their next senator without a sham candidate whose primary purpose was to confuse Alaskan voters, treat Alaskans with contempt, and rig the election for Peltola," Billy Mackey, Sullivan's campaign manager, said in a statement.

Dan J. Sullivan has 30 days to appeal. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, but he posted on social media Sunday that he "met the qualification" and had entered the race "because I am unhappy with the 12 year record of the current Senator and I feel we need a change."

He would have to work fast; Beecher noted in her letter that ballots are printed on June 28 — less than two weeks away.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee was also pursuing probes of the challenger Sullivan at the federal level, filing a pair of complaints with the Federal Election Commission.

"Alaskans saw right through Chuck Schumer and Mary Peltola's tricks to confuse and deceive them with a sham candidate," NRSC spokesperson Nick Puglia said in a statement.

Alaska, which will be critical to determining which party controls the Senate next year, allows the top four primary vote-getters to advance to the general election, which is conducted by ranked-choice voting. Republicans had worried having two same-name candidates on the ballot could siphon votes away from the incumbent in the competitive contest. One Nation, a nonprofit aligned with top GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, had even put out an ad last week using the incumbent's middle initial.

In her letter, Beecher said Dan J. Sullivan appeared to be "seeking to confuse yourself with another candidate in the race, the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan," by filing paperwork with a similar name — even initially emailing the elections division "asking to be listed on the ballot as 'Dan S. Sullivan,'" which is the incumbent's middle initial.

Beecher also ticked through several other similarities that she said appear "to be deliberate," including the challenger's newfound affiliation with the GOP, his similar campaign logo and website and his work with an operative who has previously supported Peltola, Amber Lee. Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"I conclude that the preponderance of the evidence is that you chose this new nickname and party affiliation because that name and party affiliation happen to be the name and party affiliation of another candidate in the race," Beecher wrote.