Dan Sullivan

Dan Sullivan (born November 13, 1964, Fairview Park, Ohio, U.S.) is an American politician who was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and began representing Alaska in that body the following year. Sullivan is seeking a third term in office and is facing three opponents, notably Democrat Mary Peltola, in the general election on November 3, 2026.

After graduating (1983) from the Culver Military Academy in northern Indiana, Sullivan went to Harvard University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1987. He earned a joint degree in law and foreign service from Georgetown University in 1993, the same year he entered active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in infantry and reconnaissance units. He later became a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.

After leaving active service in 1997, Sullivan moved to Alaska, where he clerked for judges in the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals (1997–98) and in the state’s Supreme Court (1998–99). He then went into private practice in Anchorage but later moved to Washington, D.C. There he worked in the administration of Pres. George W. Bush, holding such posts as economic adviser and, between 2006 and 2009, assistant secretary of state for economic, energy, and business affairs. During that time he met Julie Fate, who was then a staffer for Sen. Ted Stevens, and the couple later married and had three children.

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Following the election of Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, Sullivan left federal service and returned to Alaska, where he served as the state’s attorney general (2009–10) before becoming commissioner of natural resources in 2010. He resigned from the latter position to run for the U.S. Senate in 2013. During the campaign, questions were raised about Sullivan’s connections to the state; his wife, a member of a prominent Alaskan family, was featured in advertisements to counter the claim. He narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in the general election. After taking office in 2015, Sullivan largely pursued a conservative agenda, and he publicly voiced opposition to same-sex marriage and amnesty or a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Sullivan easily won a second term in 2020. However, his reelection bid in 2026 has been more closely contested amid low approval ratings for Pres. Donald Trump and a sluggish economy. Sullivan is facing three other candidates in the election, which will be decided by ranked-choice voting. His opponents include Democrat Mary Peltola and another Republican who is also named Dan Sullivan.

The presence of the other Dan Sullivan had been a controversy throughout the campaign. The Republicans sued to get the other Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher from rural Alaska, removed from the ballot; but in June the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that two Dan Sullivans running for the same office did not violate Alaska law or the U.S. Constitution. Then, less than a week before the election, The New York Times reported that the reason the other Sullivan decided to run was because of a Peltola campaign bid to specifically recruit other candidates with that name to enter the race in order to sow voter confusion. The Peltola campaign has denied having any involvement in recruiting Sullivans. “Ballot-stacking,” as the practice is known, is neither unprecedented nor apparently illegal. Still, Alaska’s Republican governor Mike Dunleavy announced an investigation into whether the practice could be a criminal or civil violation. And the Trump administration filed a lawsuit calling on the election to not be certified if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan was not the winner. A judge threw out the lawsuit but as election day drew near, questions about election integrity featured prominently in the race.

Why does it matter? In a close race, even a little voter confusion could prove pivotal.

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