Alaska Senate Race Features Two Dan Sullivans on Ballot as Investigations and Dispute Continue

Alaska voters were set to decide a close U.S. Senate race on Tuesday, November 3, with two men named Dan Sullivan on the ballot: Republican incumbent Daniel S. Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a Republican whose name is nearly identical. The outcome could decide control of the Senate. Federal and state criminal investigations are examining whether anyone tried to make the ballot harder to read, according to Newsweek. An October 28 New York Times investigation described people tied to Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recruiting candidates to hurt the incumbent. Alaska Public Media said aides directed a staff member to search for Alaskans named Dan Sullivan. Peltola's campaign denies involvement. On Monday, President Donald Trump wrote that lawyers were hiding Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and coaching him to avoid prosecution, and called for Peltola to resign and be charged. Reports said Sullivan left Petersburg before the election, and his whereabouts were unclear. On October 25, Trump argued the ballot should have called his endorsed candidate "Senator Dan Sullivan" instead of "incumbent."

Right-leaning outlets frame the story as a scandal. Breitbart leads with Trump's Monday post, quoting his claims about a "FAKE" candidate and criminal lawyers, and cites the Times investigation and Alaska Public Media. The Daily Mail uses the label "Decoy Dan," calls it a Democrat ballot scheme, and leads with voter Greg Martone, who told NewsNation he might have voted for the wrong Sullivan. Neither gives Peltola's denial much space in the excerpts. Alternative outlets differ: NewsNation's headline says voters were not confused, and Newsweek profiles Marvin Willard Jr., a Tlingit voter who said the ballot was not an issue and wanted talk about living costs, while noting that Alaskans were divided and that Peltola's campaign denies the allegation. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while right-leaning and alternative outlets had.