Can voters differentiate between two candidates with the same name?
Alaskans will have to try after the state’s Supreme Court affirmed Monday that both Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Republican candidate Dan J. Sullivan must be included on the ballot for U.S. Senate this year.
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The incumbent senator and his fellow Republicans accuse Dan J. Sullivan of being a Democratic plant set up to confuse voters. Dan J. Sullivan has defended himself in documents and public statements, saying his desire to run and hold office is genuine.
Nate Adams, a spokesperson for Sen. Sullivan, said the campaign would rely on the state’s Division of Elections to list the two candidates as distinctly as possible. A sample primary ballot released by the state lists the incumbent as “Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent” and the other Sullivan as “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.”
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In theory, Republicans can continue appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to boot Dan J. Sullivan, but ballots are due to be printed Tuesday and are federally required to be ready 45 days before an election. The state’s primary elections are Aug. 18.
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