Alaska Just Has Too Many Dan Sullivans

Yet another Dan Sullivan has entered the chat.

In the Alaska Senate race, which has managed to give everyone a headache, former Anchorage Mayor Dan A. Sullivan has endorsed Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan for reelection over retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan, NBC News reported Sunday.

“As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. He’s been great for Alaska,” the former mayor wrote in a post on Facebook last week.

For those keeping score at home, in last week’s all-party primary elections, Dan S. Sullivan advanced to the general election, against a tough Democratic challenge from former Representative Mary Peltola. Despite Alaska’s typical GOP lean, Sullivan secured roughly 43 percent of the vote, while Peltola won 48 percent.

Dan J. Sullivan, who is also running as a Republican, secured only 2.4 percent of the vote but was still more successful than the other 13 challengers not named “Dan Sullivan.” The primary is decided by ranked-choice voting, and the top four finishers advance—meaning that this Senate race could still be a state-wide Sullivan-off.

After initially blocking Danny J from running, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that the Alaska Division of Elections did not have the authority to create new requirements for candidates—like, that they have different names.