Alaska elections official warns GOP Senate namesake he may lose ballot spot

Alaska’s elections director has warned Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan that he could be removed from the state’s August primary ballot, the Associated Press reported. The dispute adds a ballot-access fight to a closely watched Senate race in which the incumbent is also a Republican named Dan Sullivan.

Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher told the challenger in a Wednesday letter that her office had received two complaints about his eligibility, according to AP. Beecher wrote that the division had found the evidence did not support his eligibility for U.S. Senate and gave him until Thursday to provide more material.

The letter, published by the Anchorage Daily News, did not describe the evidence behind the possible disqualification, AP reported. Beecher’s office did not respond to AP requests for comment, and the challenger did not immediately respond to AP messages about the letter.

The candidate at issue is Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, a fishing community south of Juneau, according to AP. The incumbent, Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, is seeking reelection to a seat Democrats have targeted as they try to win back control of the Senate in the midterm elections, AP reported.

Sen. Sullivan has accused the challenger of working with Democrats to confuse voters and help former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, his leading opponent, according to AP. The challenger and Peltola have denied that claim.

Dan J. Sullivan told AP earlier in the week that entering the race was his decision. He said he had no contact with Peltola’s campaign, saying, “zero, none, zilch.”

The review followed an announcement by Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees Alaska elections, that she was investigating the challenger’s candidacy, AP reported. In a letter to Dan J. Sullivan, Dahlstrom said the inquiry concerned “credible allegations” that he had not filed to run in good faith, but instead intended to draw mistaken votes from the incumbent with the same name and party affiliation.

Dahlstrom’s questions asked the challenger to explain his Republican affiliation, how long he had used the name Dan Sullivan, his connection to a consultant and any contact with other candidates or the Democratic Party, according to AP. Those issues mirrored claims raised in a letter to Dahlstrom and Beecher by a lawyer for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, AP reported.

The challenger objected to the investigation in writing, saying Alaska law barred officials from denying him a ballot spot because Sen. Sullivan and the NRSC wanted him out of the race, according to AP. He called the inquiry “an unprecedented affront” to his rights as a candidate and to Alaska voters’ rights.

The ACLU of Alaska said it was not aware of another case in which the lieutenant governor investigated a candidate for reasons beyond checking federal, state and local qualifications, AP reported. Jahna Lindemuth, a former Alaska attorney general, told AP that examining a candidate’s motive for running raises free speech concerns and said Dahlstrom could identify the senator as the incumbent on the ballot if voter confusion was the issue.

The U.S. Constitution requires senators to be at least 30, to have been U.S. citizens for at least nine years and to live in the state they represent at the time of election. Dan J. Sullivan, who told AP he moved to Alaska in 1980 and will turn 69 this weekend, said he worked for the U.S. Forest Service before becoming a teacher.

Alaska’s candidate declaration asks for a candidate’s name, requested ballot party label, address and preferred ballot name, AP reported. The elections division had previously certified the challenger as Dan J. Sullivan, while listing the senator as Dan S. Sullivan and marking him as the incumbent.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.