(AFP) – Alaskans have a choice: vote for Dan Sullivan number one or, as Dan Sullivan number three advises, Dan Sullivan number two? The convergence of multiple people with the same first and last name has put a bizarre twist on the serious fight for a US Senate seat in the midterm elections this November.
On the Democratic side, it’s easy. The candidate is named Mary Peltola. On the Republican side, the incumbent candidate is Senator Dan S. Sullivan. He has plenty of money and President Donald Trump’s backing. But he also has a problem: a man called Dan J. Sullivan who also wants to run as a Republican. The party has tried to force Dan J. out of the race, claiming the retired schoolteacher entered as a spoiler to confuse voters and draw support away from Dan S., thereby helping Peltola.
Dan J. Sullivan is persisting, and Alaska’s top court ruled last month that he can stay in the race. Now, Senator Sullivan is getting help from a former Republican mayor of Anchorage, who is urging voters to stay focused and back the right guy. The mayor’s name? Dan A. Sullivan — or, as he puts it, the original Sullivan.
“As the OG Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. He’s been great for Alaska,” he posted on Facebook. Only about 740,000 people live in Alaska, a gigantic territory more than double the size of Texas, and the close Senate race will help determine which party controls Congress after the midterms.
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