Trump claims Democrats engineered candidate with same name as Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan
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President Donald Trump accused Democrats of using a same-name candidate to confuse voters in Alaska's Republican Senate primary, while the candidate and party denied any coordination.
President Donald Trump said Democrats were attempting to mislead voters in Alaska's Republican Senate primary by fielding a candidate who shares the name of incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. The comment came as Alaskans prepared to vote in a primary that could affect the balance of power in Congress, with Democrats hoping to flip the seat held by the Republican incumbent.
"Because of the trickery in the Voting, the Crooked, Radical Left Dumocrats have put up another man named ‘Dan Sullivan,’ and they did this to take Votes away from our Great Senator of the same name. Democrats are trying to ‘trick’ Alaskans, and treat Alaskan Voters with contempt," Trump wrote on his social-media platform on Friday.
The Alaska Democratic Party and the campaign of former Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate, said they have no connection to the second Dan Sullivan. The challenger, Dan J. Sullivan, a retired fifth-grade teacher, described himself as a pragmatic Republican and said his candidacy is based on his family name.
"I have every right to stand up and do this. It's my name, my grandfather's name: Dan Sullivan. My dad's name: Dan Sullivan," he told the Petersburg Pilot newspaper.
Incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan called the challenger a “sham” candidate, alleging the intent was to confuse voters, a claim the challenger and state Democrats reject. The Alaska Supreme Court recently upheld a lower-court order allowing Dan J. Sullivan to stay on the ballot, despite complaints and a Department of Justice inquiry.
Trump reiterated his support for the incumbent, describing him as a “GREAT man” and saying, “‘SULLIVAN, DAN S’ has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election – HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”
Alaska’s nonpartisan primary advances the top four vote-getters to the general election under a ranked-choice system, meaning both Dan Sullivans could appear on the November ballot.