(Adnkronos) – The Senate race in Alaska, an event that promises to be decisive in the November midterm elections, will also be remembered as the story of the “three Dan Sullivans”. After the curious case of homonymy that had already inflamed last week’s primaries, former Republican Anchorage mayor Dan A. Sullivan announced his support for incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan, also a Republican, who in November will face, among others, a third namesake, Dan J. Sullivan, and Democrat Mary Peltola. The latter came in first in the primaries with about five points ahead of the incumbent, a significant result in a historically Republican state, where the Senate seat has belonged to the GOP for over a decade and no Democratic presidential candidate has won since 1964. “As the original Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Senator Daniel S. Sullivan. He has been a great senator for Alaska,” the former mayor wrote on Facebook.
The presence of Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and former US Forest Service employee with no prior political experience, sparked protests from Republicans, who claimed his candidacy was orchestrated to confuse voters and draw votes away from the incumbent senator, favoring Peltola. The accusations were rejected by Sullivan, who denied any coordination with Democrats: “It’s my choice and I have every right to run,” he had declared in June. Even Donald Trump, on the eve of the primaries, had urged voters to “vote for the real Dan Sullivan,” accusing Democrats of fielding “an imposter with the same name.” Attempts to exclude Dan J. Sullivan from the competition, however, failed: the Alaska Supreme Court allowed him to remain on the ballot, and the 2.4% he obtained in the primaries allowed him to advance to the November challenge, thanks to the state’s particular electoral system, in which all candidates participate in the same primary regardless of party, and the top four advance to the general election.
The affair, however singular, could have far from marginal consequences for the future of the Trump administration, with the Alaska seat considered among those capable of influencing the balance of the Senate. Peltola, a former Democratic congresswoman, has so far obtained about 48% of the votes in the August 18 primaries, against 43% for Senator Sullivan, and the Cook Political Report considers the challenge a “toss-up,” with no clear favorite. In such a tight race, even a small share of votes taken from the incumbent by his namesake could therefore prove decisive and favor an unexpected Democratic victory.
