Third Dan Sullivan weighs in on unprecedented Alaska Senate race with endorsement

A third Dan Sullivan in Alaska weighed into the state’s Senate race featuring two candidates with that name, marking the latest twist in one of the most bewildering sagas of the 2026 political cycle. Republicans have for months denounced Dan J. Sullivan for running in the tight race, framing him as a Democratic plant designed to confuse voters into thinking they are supporting Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK), the incumbent lawmaker running for reelection.Yet another Dan Sullivan entered the fray when he endorsed the senator’s reelection campaign. Last week, former Anchorage Mayor Dan A. Sullivan last week said he backed Sen. Dan S. Sullivan ahead of November’s general election. The race is viewed as one of the closest in the country, as Democrats hope to flip the seat blue and send Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) to the upper chamber.“As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan. He’s been great for Alaska,” the former mayor wrote in a Facebook post. Republicans have accused Dan J. Sullivan of serving as an accessory to Peltola’s campaign against the senator. Amber Lee, Dan J. Sullivan’s former campaign manager, is a Democratic strategist whom the New York Times described as a Peltola supporter. She has advocated for Peltola on the record several times, a GOP operative previously told the Washington Examiner.Dan J. Sullivan is a registered Republican. He appeared on the state’s open primary ballot last week as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. The retired teacher from Petersburg has denied being connected to the Peltola campaign. He is set to land on the general election ballot in November.In Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, the top four finishers in the open primary, regardless of party, proceed to the general election. Dan S. Sullivan and Peltola handily secured enough votes in the Aug. 18 primary to be advanced. Dan J. Sullivan is leading several other candidates jockeying for third and fourth place.Republicans lost a battle to keep him off the ballot in late June. At the time, Alaska’s Supreme Court backed up Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’s ruling that tossed out the state’s Division of Elections’ decision on the race.NRSC REFERS CHALLENGER DAN SULLIVAN TO FEC OVER CAMPAIGN ‘SCHEME’ TO OUST SENATOR WITH SAME NAMEThe elections board said Dan J. Sullivan was ineligible to challenge Sen. Dan S. Sullivan’s bid for reelection because his candidacy was designed “to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”But the courts reversed the decision, with Justice Aimee Oravec arguing that “there’s a lot of different ways you can distinguish these two candidates on the ballot, short of precluding access to the ballot to begin with.”