State says Petersburg’s Dan Sullivan not eligible to run for US Senate

Alaska Division of Elections gives namesake of incumbent senator until 5 p.m. Thursday to ‘provide any additional information and evidence’

Dan Sullivan of Petersburg, who announced his U.S. Senate candidacy May 29. (Photo courtesy of Dan Sullivan)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Petersburg resident Dan J. Sullivan, targeted by two complaints because he is seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by an incumbent with the same name, is not eligible to be a candidate based on evidence collected to date, the Alaska Division of Elections declared on Wednesday.

The division gave Sullivan until 5 p.m. Thursday to provide "any additional information and evidence to respond to these complaints and support your eligibility."

"The Division will then issue a final determination, with or without another response from you," the letter by Carol Beecher, the division’s director, states.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the elections division, announced Monday the state was investigating the legitimacy of the Petersburg resident’s candidacy, asserting "credible allegations" the candidacy was filed "in coordination with another campaign with the deliberate intent to confuse Alaska voters."

The retired fifth-grade teacher, in a response to the state Wednesday and a press release Thursday, states his candidacy is legitimate and not done in coordination with another candidate or Democratic party officials, as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and his supporters allege. Dan J. Sullivan states he was a longtime member of the Alaskan Independence Party, which disbanded earlier this year, and decided to run for Senate as a Republican since that is the existing party closest to his beliefs.

"I am disappointed by the actions taken by Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom and the message they send to Alaska voters," he stated in Thursday’s release. "The Lieutenant Governor's job is to oversee elections fairly and impartially. Instead, her actions create the impression that the state government is being used to protect an incumbent senator from facing competition at the ballot box. That's not how elections should work."

The Petersburg resident also stated he has considered a run for public office for more than a decade and he learned about the state’s investigation from a reporter who obtained a copy of Dahlstrom’s letter, rather than state officials.

"The law forbids your office from denying me access to the ballot just because Senator Sullivan and the (National Republican Senatorial Committee) would prefer I not be allowed to run," he wrote. "This investigation by your office – and coordination of it with the press – is an unprecedented affront to my rights as a candidate and the rights of Alaska voters to select their own representation in the U.S. Senate."

Beecher, appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2023, is also a registered Republican at the time declined to definitively state if the 2020 presidential election was legitimately conducted. She, Dahlstrom and other administration officials have come under scrutiny for handing over confidential voter data to the Trump administration and giving federal officials the ability to flag the names of voters for removal.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.