Dan Sullivan of Petersburg said he’s happy the Alaska Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling to keep his name on the ballot.
The 69-year-old retired teacher and U.S. Senate candidate has been the subject of a legal battle to determine whether the Alaska Division of Elections could remove his name from the ballot. The division has claimed that Petersburg Sullivan, who has the same name as Alaska’s junior senator, is running to intentionally confuse voters.
In an interview with KFSK Monday, Petersburg Sullivan said he felt confident during the court’s proceedings.
“It feels pretty satisfying,” Sullivan said. “I have to say, if they had ruled the other way, I would have been really surprised.”
Sullivan said he’s ready to start campaigning for the August primary. But, he’s also waiting to see how his name will appear on the ballot — something the supreme court told the Division of Elections to decide.
“Once that’s done, then I can sort of start to move forward with getting my message out and moving forward with this campaign,” he said.
He said no one has paid his legal fees but he hopes to begin raising campaign contributions to cover his expenses. His campaign hasn’t yet filed the paperwork to accept contributions, he said.
Since announcing his candidacy, Petersburg Sullivan has maintained he’s a genuine candidate, intent on pointing out what he doesn’t like about the incumbent.
Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign rejects that assertion. Campaign spokesman Nate Adams called the Petersburg man a “sham” and a “fraud” and said the court’s ruling is disappointing.
“That said, we are encouraged by the fact that the director of the division of elections will be able to use her expertise to best differentiate between the Petersburg fraud and the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, ultimately to the benefit of all Alaska voters,” Adams said.
The Division of Election doesn’t have much time to work out a solution. It says it has to begin printing ballots Tuesday at noon.
