The 2020 Florida Election Drama That Echoes Alaska’s Senate Race
Summary
The article compares allegations involving two Dan Sullivans in Alaska’s 2026 U.S. Senate race with a 2020 Florida state Senate contest involving candidates who shared a surname. In Alaska, a federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to block certification under certain circumstances, while claims about efforts to recruit the second Sullivan remain disputed.Key Facts
- Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system placed the top four candidates from the Senate primary on the November 3 ballot.
- The candidates named in the article are Democrat Mary Peltola, incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., and Republican Gerald “Jerry” Heikes.
- Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. first filed as a Republican and later changed his affiliation to undeclared.
- Alaska election officials had found Sullivan Jr. was not a genuine candidate, but courts ordered his name restored to the ballot.
- A former Peltola campaign manager told the New York Times that Democratic operatives tried to recruit a namesake challenger to Dan Sullivan; Peltola denied knowing about recruitment efforts.
- The Trump administration sued to block certification if Sullivan lost and votes for Sullivan Jr. would have affected the outcome; Peltola’s team asked the court to dismiss the suit.
- A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit on Sunday, according to the article.
- The article says a 2020 Florida state Senate candidate was accused of being paid by a former Republican state senator to run and divert votes from a Democratic incumbent with the same last name.
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