Alaska Senate Race Gets Wild: Trump-Backed Dan Sullivan Faces Peltola — and Another Daniel Sullivan

ANCHORAGE — Alaska’s 2026 Senate race is heading toward November with an extraordinary complication: Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is not only facing former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, but another candidate carrying almost exactly the same name.

Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher from Petersburg, advanced from Alaska’s August 18 open primary and is positioned to appear alongside incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan in the general election.

The unusual ballot situation immediately adds another layer of uncertainty to a Senate contest already being watched nationally.

The incumbent Sullivan, backed by President Donald Trump, is seeking another term as Republicans fight to protect their Senate majority. Peltola, a former U.S. representative, is attempting to flip the seat for Democrats.

Alaska’s official candidate records confirm that both men qualified for the Senate contest: incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.

The second Sullivan had previously been challenged over concerns that his name could confuse voters. He fought for ballot access and ultimately survived the legal battle.

Now the confusion Republicans warned about is no longer theoretical.

It could be printed directly on the November ballot.

Trump has backed the sitting senator and has publicly accused the second Sullivan of creating confusion around the incumbent’s name.

The stakes became even clearer after the primary.

Current results show Peltola leading the field with roughly 48% of the vote, while incumbent Sullivan has been running at roughly 43%. Daniel Sullivan Jr. has been receiving only a small percentage, but in a close statewide contest even a few points could become politically significant.

Those figures are still based on results that Alaska officials have identified as unofficial while remaining ballots are processed.

Alaska does not operate like a conventional partisan-primary state.

Its open-primary system advances leading candidates into the general election, followed by ranked-choice voting in November. That means candidates from the same political side can appear on the ballot together and voters may rank their preferences.

The second Sullivan’s presence therefore does not automatically mean votes taken from the incumbent are permanently lost. Ranked-choice transfers can change the final result.

But ballot identity still matters.

Campaigns spend millions of dollars making sure voters remember a candidate’s name. Having two Senate candidates carrying nearly identical names creates a campaign problem most incumbents never have to confront.

For Trump and national Republicans, keeping Alaska in the GOP column is an important part of protecting the Senate map.

For Democrats, Peltola offers a recognizable statewide figure who has already demonstrated an ability to compete in Alaska’s unconventional election system.

That makes the race far more serious than Republicans would like in a state that has traditionally leaned strongly toward the GOP in presidential elections.

Sullivan will now have to campaign on two fronts: making the case against Peltola while making absolutely certain voters know which Sullivan is the Trump-backed Republican incumbent.

There is plenty of time before November, and Alaska’s final primary certification still matters.

But the basic shape of the contest is already remarkable.

One of the Senate races that could help determine control of Washington now features a Trump-backed Republican incumbent, a high-profile Democratic challenger — and another man with almost the same name standing on the same battlefield.