An Alaskan candidate for U.S. Senate who ran under the same name and party affiliation as incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has been declared ineligible to appear on the primary ballot by the state’s elections director. On Monday, Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher stated in a letter to candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. that his election filing was not to “declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.” Sullivan filed for candidacy only two days before the June 1 deadline—and as Beecher pointed out, he filed as “Dan Sullivan” and did not include his middle initial or suffix to differentiate himself from the incumbent senator.  Sharing the name with the senator is merely a “matter of fate,” this Sullivan claims. “I am a qualified candidate who followed the rules and filed to run for office under my legal name,” he said last week. At one point, Sullivan listed “S,” rather than “J,” as his middle initial, exactly mimicking the senator’s name. Even the two candidates’ logos are hard to distinguish. Both include the last name “Sullivan” and the Alaska north star in white and yellow lettering on a blue background, with slightly different fonts.  Left: Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign logo, courtesy of Dan Sullivan for Alaska. Right: Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign logo, courtesy of Sullivan for Senate. Beecher further cited that Sullivan did not usually go by “Dan,” and observed he had only recently registered as a Republican. Beecher’s statement came in response to a letter from the National Republican Senate Committee noting that Sullivan’s campaign manager is a consultant and longtime supporter of the opposing Democrat candidate, Mary Peltola, and that Sullivan himself has donated several hundred dollars to Democrat candidates nationwide. “The only plausible explanation for someone with this record running for office as a ‘registered Republican’ is to mislead unwitting Alaska voters who intend to cast a ballot for incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan,” the NRSC stated. “Sham Candidate Sullivan” is merely a Democrat ploy to confuse Republicans and split their votes between two candidates in order to bolster Peltola’s chances of victory, according to the NRSC. It’s no secret that Alaska is a crucial state for Democrats. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has listed Alaska as one of its top five target states this cycle since February 2025, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer listed Alaska as one of “the four states we have to pick up to win back the Senate.” Sullivan has 30 days to appeal the decision before his candidacy is officially terminated. Alaska’s primary elections are set for Aug. 18, and the top four candidates will advance to the general election.