Superior Court Deems AK Candidate Dan Sullivan Must Be on the Ballot; Sen. Sullivan’s Battle Continues
In the Alaska saga of Dan Sullivan, a superior court judge vacated the June 11 Alaska Division of Elections ruling that candidate Dan J. Sullivan, Jr., who claims to be a Republican, could not appear on the ballot next to Senator Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK). The judge further decided that candidate Sullivan was unlawfully removed and must appear on the August 18 primary election ballot next to the incumbent senator.
“Decoy” Dan Sullivan can appear on the ballot. In lightspeed litigation, the Court finds that while Alaska *could* pass laws allowing it to remove “sham candidates” from the ballot, it has not. And it finds a “good faith” requirement to run violates the U.S. Constitution. pic.twitter.com/rRIA6laBFb
— Eric W. (@EWess92) June 27, 2026
A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is eligible to challenge the senator in the August primary, a judge ruled Friday.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’ ruling overturns a June 15 decision by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher to disqualify the challenger and keep him off the primary ballot. Matthews’ ruling can be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Attorneys for the state have said Tuesday is the deadline for a final ruling so that ballots for the Aug. 18 primary can be printed.
The legal matter is still being wrangled inside the state, so the Alaska Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling before the June 30 deadline for printing ballots.
The judge ruled that the Division’s decision to exclude Dan J. Sullivan because his candidacy was not “in good faith” was not based on the Constitution, Alaska law or the Division’s own regulations. The retired teacher from the small fishing community of Petersburg filed to challenge the incumbent.
“Instead, the decision was based upon a new, previously unstated, ‘good faith’ criteria,” the judge wrote.
Attorneys for the state did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday’s ruling. Jeffrey Robertson, Dan J. Sullivan’s attorney, said in an email he expects the Division to appeal the ruling and couldn’t comment until the Alaska Supreme Court rules on the case.
Read More: Alaska GOP Scores Win Against ‘Other Dan Sullivan’ Candidate
Democrats Keep Pushing to Restore Alaska’s ‘Other Dan Sullivan’ to the Ballot
At this point, it’s become a national matter that has received national news coverage. The decision is expected to be appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court, so whatever the final decision, the Alaska citizens who vote definitely know the difference between the incumbent and the spoiler. How they choose to vote remains to be seen.