By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-08-19 03:16:13 | Updated at 2026-08-20 03:44:44
1 day ago
Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan told the New York Times he has never voted for President Donald Trump, despite running as a Republican against the incumbent GOP senator who shares his name, according to a profile published Monday.
Sullivan, 69, is a retired schoolteacher from the fishing village of Petersburg. He and two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan share a name, and both appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot. Republicans call the challenger a Democrat plant. The challenger told the Times he was running in good faith as a moderate Republican, not a secret Democrat.
He said he voted for the Democrat nominee in the last three presidential elections and did not vote for the senator in his previous two campaigns. He said he backed Democrat Mary Peltola in her 2022 and 2024 House bids and has donated to her and other Democrats. Asked whether he would prefer Peltola over the incumbent in November, he did not hesitate.
“If it was between those two, it’d probably be that,” Sullivan said.
The challenger said he attends local events protesting the Trump administration, including at least one “No Kings” protest, and told the Times he opposes the direction of his own party.
“I don’t think the Republican Party needs to be the MAGA party,” Sullivan said.
Trump endorsed the senator days before the primary, posting a graphic that marked the incumbent with a “Trump endorsed” sticker and placed a Democrat donkey next to the challenger’s crossed-out name.
“The Crooked, Radical Left Dumocrats have put up another man named ‘Dan Sullivan,’ and they did this to take Votes away from our Great Senator of the same name,” Trump wrote on social media.
Sen. Sullivan has accused the challenger of “purposely trying to trick my constituents to rig the election for Peltola” and threatened litigation over the candidacy. His campaign said, “Alaskans deserve a fair and honest election — not political games meant to manipulate the ballot and benefit Democrats.”
The challenger has denied coordinating with Democrats, saying he had “zero, none, zilch” contact with Peltola’s campaign. He called his run “my choice.”
“I am not a ‘fake’ Dan Sullivan. I am Dan Sullivan,” he said.
A longtime Democratic consultant, Amber Lee, helped the challenger file to run, according to filing metadata reviewed by the Times. Sullivan said he found her online and that she is no longer involved. He registered as a Republican the day he filed.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Alaska has been investigating whether his candidacy deprives Alaska residents of their right to vote and whether his fundraising amounts to fraud, according to the Times.
The primary comes as Republicans work to defend their 53-47 Senate majority in a difficult midterm year. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has found success in other red states encouraging Democrats to run as independents to siphon votes from Republican incumbents.
“I’ve been Dan Sullivan longer than you’ve been Dan Sullivan,” the challenger said.
