A retired teacher named Dan J. Sullivan is eligible to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in the Alaska primary on August 18, after a Superior Court judge ruled in his favor on June 26 [1, 2, 3].
Judge Thomas Matthews overturned the Alaska Division of Elections' decision to disqualify Dan J. Sullivan, saying the disqualification was based on a new, previously unstated "good faith" criterion. Matthews declared, "Mr Dan Sullivan is declared to be an eligible candidate" [1, 2].
Senator Dan Sullivan accused the challenger of being a plant fielded by Democrats to confuse voters and help Democrat Mary Peltola win. He said, "His primary purpose is not to win an election, it's to confuse Alaskans and rig the vote for my opponent, the Democrat. He's not in it to win it. He's in it to rig it" [3].
Mary Peltola, a Democrat and former U.S. Representative, is running to unseat Senator Sullivan in the general election [2, 3]. Peltola's campaign denies any involvement in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan [2]. Dan J. Sullivan says his candidacy is genuine, driven by frustration with the incumbent [3].
Alaska's election uses a single non-partisan primary system with ranked-choice voting. The top four candidates from the August primary advance to the general election [2, 3].
The Alaska Division of Elections plans to appeal Judge Matthews' ruling to the state Supreme Court. A final decision on ballot inclusion is expected by the Tuesday deadline of June 30 to allow primary ballots to be printed [1, 3].
