Independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan Jr. joins Alaska Senate general election field
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Dan J. Sullivan Jr., an independent who shares a name with incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, qualified for the Alaska Senate general election, creating a potential source of voter confusion under the state's ranked-choice voting system.
Independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan Jr. secured a place in the Alaska Senate general election, joining incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat former Rep. Mary Peltola among the final four contenders. The Alaska election board has yet to announce the fourth candidate.
Sullivan Jr., a logger who received about 2.5% of the vote in the primary, ran without a party label and his campaign website focused on the name similarity, urging voters to "defeat incumbent, elect a Sullivan who stands up for Alaska."
The race is conducted under Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates and reallocates votes from eliminated contenders. Critics, including Sen. Sullivan, have said the system can cause confusion. > "Like many others who did not support ranked choice voting in 2020, I still believe that this new election system has created unnecessary confusion among voters," Sullivan said.
Republican state Sen. James Kaufman expressed concern that voters might conflate the two Dan Sullivans and noted that some Alaskans resist using ranked-choice voting. > "Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote," Kaufman said.
A review of Sullivan Jr.'s campaign materials found that progressive consultant Amber Lee, who previously worked for Peltola, helped author some content, prompting Republican criticism that the candidacy could split the vote under the ranked-choice system.