Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Alaska GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan can\u2019t shake his same-name challenger.<\/p>\n
Retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan punched a ticket out of the state\u2019s top-four, all-party primary early Wednesday morning. He could now play spoiler in a high-stakes Senate clash between the Republican senator and former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola that could help swing control of the upper chamber.<\/p>\n
Republicans fought and failed to keep Dan J. Sullivan off the primary ballot<\/a>, arguing he was a Democratic plant designed to boost Peltola. Both Dan J. Sullivan and Peltola\u2019s campaign have denied any coordination.<\/p>\n The senator\u2019s allies have already taken steps to mitigate the second Sullivan\u2019s potential vote siphoning, in some cases running ads using the senator\u2019s middle initial to help differentiate between the same-named candidates.<\/p>\n Supporters of the state\u2019s ranked-choice voting system, which kicks in for the general election, argue the process helps curtail the spoiler effect. But the presence of other candidates could still skew the results of the battleground race. Outside groups flooded the primary with more than $2 million to boost myriad fringe candidates<\/a> \u2014 and could do so again ahead of November.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not smooth sailing for Peltola, either, as she wages an uphill battle to flip a red seat in a state President Donald Trump won by 13 percentage points in 2024. She recently replaced her campaign manager in a staffing shakeup<\/a> ahead of the primary, among other internal moves.<\/p>\n