Two thoughts on two Dan Sullivans

Michelle Bonnet Hale

By Michelle Bonnet Hale

We can hold two thoughts about something at the same time. It can be hard to do so in our highly polarized world, but in order to move beyond that polarization in our black-or-white world, I’m hoping we can start to see a little gray.

We can agree on two things. First, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom’s decision to disqualify “Petersburg Dan” Sullivan from running for U.S. Senate is entirely without merit and entirely partisan. Hyper-polarized and probably illegal, even.

Second, we can and should see retired schoolteacher “Petersburg Dan” Sullivan’s decision to run against seated U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan as a gimmick at best and at worst degrading of our very election process.

I chuckled at first when I heard of a sound-alike candidate for our sole U.S. Senate seat. It didn’t take much thought and conversation, however, to conclude that Petersburg Dan’s election bid throws a monkey wrench into an enormously consequential election.

Petersburg Dan Sullivan is taking advantage of our open primary system in the worst way. It appears to be an effort to use Alaska’s voting system to trick or confuse voters. How can tricking Alaskan voters be a defensible way of winning an election?

In our household conversations about this, my dear partner points to principle. In our state, we expect principled actions in our elections. We expect free and fair and informed elections.

Deliberately confusing voters is not principled. It is not fair and it does not accurately inform the election process.

However, declaring Petersburg Dan Sullivan ineligible to run for U.S. Senate with no legal basis for her decision, as Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has done, is also entirely without principle. She doesn’t like Petersburg Dan’s actions, so she is using her office to subvert his legal, albeit unprincipled, effort to run for office. Her actions are not fair nor do they create a free election.

We can hold both of these thoughts. We can insist that Lt. Gov. Dahlstrom rescind her order. And we can ask Petersburg Dan to please bow out of this election. 

• Michelle Bonnet Hale’s roots go deep in Juneau and Southeast Alaska. She and her partner share their household with various relatives and three dogs. She served for six years on the Juneau Assembly.