Website Colors and Hurt Feelings Trigger an Unprecedented Ballot Purge in U.S. Senate Race
Labeling both Sullivans "incumbent" and "non-incumbent" on the ballot was an option, but the state is terrified the MAGA base will get tripped up by too many syllables.
Whelp - the Alaska Division of Elections is apparently in the mind-reading business now. Today, Director Carol Beecher issued a final determination, designed to protect incumbent U.S. Senator "Ohio" Dan Sullivan from the absolute horror of a primary challenger with the same name.
In a nutshell, Beecher appears to be deeply offended that Daniel J. Sullivan of Petersburg dared to register as a Republican, chose a campaign color scheme that resembles the incumbent's branding (just like every other Alaska political campaign), and worked with a political consultant who has worked with Democrats and independent candidates. The Division claims that all of this somehow constitutes a bad-faith effort to confuse voters, thereby giving it the right to cancel his candidacy.
The only minor issue with this logic is the law. Petersburg Sullivan checks every single box you would need to check to appear on the ballot. The state does not even try to dispute the basics of his eligibility because it cannot.
Instead, the Division is fabricating a 'good-faith standard' out of thin air to do some heavy lifting for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Ohio Dan Sullivan. The ACLU of Alaska already pointed out the lack of precedent here, saying that it was “unaware of any other instance where the Lieutenant Governor has investigated a specific candidate for reasons other than determining whether a candidate meets federal, state and local eligibility requirements.”
Seems pretty clear, right? The state should not investigate a candidate's subjective motivations or police their marketing choices if the official eligibility paperwork is found compliant and verified.
Ah, the Dunleavy administration - openly weaponizing the Division of Elections to insulate a sitting MAGA senator from a highly inconvenient ballot situation. Booting a constitutionally qualified candidate because the establishment finds his name and website design annoying is a dangerous abuse of authority that makes a mockery of our entire election system.
For what it's worth, many have suggested, including former Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth, that the Division of Elections could simply list "incumbent" and "non-incumbent" next to both Dan Sullivans' names.
They don't seem to want to do that however, presumably because they know MAGA voters will not know what either of those words means. 😬
