After a flurry of news stories about Dan Sullivan of Petersburg, who wants to get on the ballot to run against U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, Tuesday brought a bit of a lull. Washington Correspondent Liz Ruskin and host Lori Townsend discuss the fine points we may have missed.
The following transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Lori Townsend: Liz, for those who haven’t followed this, can you give us a 30-second recap?
Liz Ruskin: Sure. Dan Sullivan of Petersburg filed to run, as a Republican. Sen. Sullivan, who is also a Republican, alleged trickery. The Republican Party lodged complaints. The Division of Elections struck the Petersburg Sullivan from the ballot. He appealed to Superior Court and won a reversal. The Division of Elections appealed to the Supreme Court and lost.
LT: So we’ll have two Dan Sullivans on the ballot. What do we know about how their names will appear?
LR: I am checking my phone every minute for news on that but the Division of Elections has been silent today, as of late this afternoon, anyway. But, they did put, with no comment or context, a sample ballot at the top of their homepage. It lists the Petersburg candidate as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." with no party designation, just a blank space. And the senator is listed as "Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent.”
LT: Is that unusual?
LR: Yes, for both candidates. The challenger’s attorney says there’s no legal authority for the state to strip him of his chosen party affiliation. And anyway, the other candidates on the sample ballot who are unaffiliated have “nonpartisan” after their name.
And then for the senator’s ballot listing, to say “incumbent” is unusual for Alaska. There’s a state regulation that says the ballot can’t contain titles or honorifics or academic degrees, so it couldn’t say “senator.” It’s not clear whether “incumbent” is equivalent to a title.
LT: So is this how the Division of Elections has chosen to identify the candidates?
LR: We don’t know. They aren’t saying. They’ve floated several proposals for how to differentiate the two Sullivans. Elsewhere on the website they have the challenger listed as Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr. Registered Republican.
LT: When will we know?
LR: I wish I could tell you. They were supposed to begin printing ballots at noon today, Tuesday, so it’s surprising they haven’t been responding to media requests.
As a practical matter, I’m not sure how much this matters. We’re talking about the primary ballot. With all the attention on this case, it seems likely both Sullivans will make it to the general election. And then it’s a new ballgame.
