A judge rules that a person with the same name can challenge Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska
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The judge decided on Friday that another man running as a Republican, with the same name as the Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan, is eligible to run against him in the August primary in Alaska.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews overturned a decision made by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher earlier this month to disqualify Sullivan from the election.
Matthews on Friday ruled that Beecher did not follow the Constitution, Alaska law or state regulations when he made the decision to fire Sullivan.
“Instead, the decision was based on a new, unspecified, 'good faith' criterion,” the judge wrote.
In his determination, Beecher said Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who recently switched his organization to the GOP, did not launch his campaign “in good faith,” and sought to “confuse or mislead” voters at the ballot box.
The Republican senator is seeking a third term in office.
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Dan J. Sullivan, a US Senate candidate in Alaska, poses for a photo in Petersburg, Alaska. (Katie Holmlund/Associated Press)
Democrats are hoping that former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, who helped Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. that he is recruited into the race, he will depose him in November.
Alaska is one of several states expected to be contested as both parties battle for control of the Senate.
The Division of Elections told The Associated Press on Saturday that it plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
The deadline for a final decision is Tuesday so ballots for the Aug. 18 election can be printed in time, state attorneys said.
The senator previously told Fox News Digital that he believes Dan J. Sullivan is a Democrat.
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Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington. (Mark Schifelbein/AP, File)
“His main goal is not to win the election, to confuse the people of Alaska and steal the vote of my opponent, a Democrat,” Sullivan said. “He's not in it to win it. He's in it to record it.”
The name confusion may seem particularly important in Alaska given its ranked-choice voting system, where voters list candidates in order.
If Dan J. Sullivan is allowed to remain on the first ballot, both he and Dan S. Sullivan can advance to the general election where the top four vote-getters will appear.
Dan J. Sullivan's attorneys argued that there are only three qualifications for the Senate in the Constitution: age, nationality and citizenship.
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Former Rep. Mary Peltola is considered a major contender for the Democratic Alliance. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu, File)
He also said that sharing a name with a congressman gave him an “instant megaphone,” but he was frustrated with the lawmaker and had been considering a run for some time.
The Division of Elections, however, says it is not necessary to put him on the ballot and find a way to make it less confusing for voters.
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“The Constitution does not require states to put a candidate on the ballot and then try to mitigate the damage by choosing projects,” attorney Rachel Witty, of the Alaska Department of Justice, and outside attorneys Christopher Murray and Michael Francisco said in court.
Lawyers for Sullivan's opponent argued that the Constitution sets out three special qualifications for the Senate, speaking only of age, citizenship and tenure, and argued that Beecher had no right to kick him out of the vote.
Fox News' Adam Pack, Alex Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
