2026-06-22T22:42:56.707Z / 美国有线电视新闻网
美联社电——
周一，一名与阿拉斯加州共和党参议员丹·沙利文同名、同属共和党的男子起诉挑战州最高选举官员取消其参选资格、将他从8月初选选票中移除的决定。
代表这位挑战者沙利文的律师在法庭文件中称，选举 division 主任卡罗尔·比彻取消其参选资格的决定违反了州和联邦法律，并请求法院下令将其名字列入选票。这位来自小型渔业社区彼得斯堡的退休教师沙利文一直坚称自己是合格的联邦参议员候选人，选举官员没有法律依据将他从选票中剔除。
他的律师写道，美国宪法对联邦参议员规定了三项排他性任职资格，分别涉及年龄、公民身份和居住年限。
“阿拉斯加州法律丝毫没有规范个人宣布参选或竞选公职的私人动机，”律师杰弗里·罗宾逊、布林·帕勒森和佐伊·艾斯伯格在文件中写道。
沙利文参选的消息在6月1日 filing 截止日期前几天传出后，立刻遭到现任参议员沙利文和全国共和党参议员竞选委员会的谴责。他们称这位挑战者是“虚假候选人”，并指控他与民主党勾结，以提高民主党前联邦众议员玛丽·佩尔托拉在本次选举中的胜算。佩尔托拉的竞选团队和阿拉斯加州民主党对此予以否认，这位挑战者本人也同样否认了相关指控。
现任参议员沙利文和佩尔托拉是这场拥有十余名候选人的竞选的焦点人物。这是今年中期选举中最受关注的美国参议院竞选之一，两党均将其视为掌控参议院多数席位的关键战役。
选举 division 发言人史蒂夫·基尔希表示，该机构不予置评，不会讨论“正在进行的审核、调查或相关法律程序”。比彻此前曾表示，选票将于周日付印。
6月15日，即共和党副州长南希·达尔斯特伦宣布对挑战者沙利文的参选展开调查一周后，比彻取消了他的参选资格。她得出结论认为，沙利文提交参选声明“并非出于真诚参选联邦参议员的目的，而是为了迷惑或误导选民，从而破坏选举的公平性或中立性”。
达尔斯特伦在宣布展开调查时援引了“可信指控”，称沙利文宣布参选是“与另一位候选人及其竞选团队协调”的结果，目的是迷惑和“操纵”选民。但在将挑战者从选票中移除时，比彻并未提及找到任何其与佩尔托拉或民主党官员勾结的证据。
本月早些时候，这位挑战者在接受美联社采访时被问及是否与佩尔托拉的竞选团队有过任何接触，他回答说：“零，没有，丝毫没有。”
比彻表示，她做出该决定的依据包括：他以“小丹尼尔·J·沙利文”的身份登记投票，并在参选时将党派 affiliation 更改为共和党；她还提到，他的竞选网站与现任参议员的网站相似，且他曾与一名客户包括部分民主党人的顾问合作。
阿拉斯加州国会议员候选人填写的表格会要求候选人说明希望在选票上如何被称呼，以及其 preferred 党派 affiliation。
比彻称，她的做法符合一项选举规定，该规定禁止候选人在选票上使用学术或专业头衔，或以“令选民感到困惑或误导，或破坏选举公平性与中立性”的方式呈现姓名。
针对州民主党众议员安德鲁·格雷的质询，立法顾问安德鲁·邓迈尔上周表示，比彻所援引的这项规定并未禁止将沙利文的名字列入选票。他表示，选举部门可以通过在选票上区分两位沙利文的方式来遵守该规定。
这一立场也得到了挑战者沙利文律师团队的支持。
这位挑战者最初曾被认证，并在州候选人名单上以“丹·J·沙利文”的身份列出。现任参议员则被列为“丹·S·沙利文”，并标注为现任议员。
阿拉斯加州采用开放初选制度，无论党派 affiliation 如何，获得票数最高的四位候选人将进入排序选择式大选。
Sen. Dan Sullivan’s same-name challenger sues to stay on ballot
2026-06-22T22:42:56.707Z / CNN
AP—
A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan on Monday challenged a decision by a top state elections official to disqualify his candidacy and remove him from the August primary ballot.
A court filing, on behalf of the challenger Sullivan by his attorneys, said the decision by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher disqualifying him violates state and federal law. It asks that he be placed on the ballot. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the small fishing community of Petersburg, has maintained that he’s a qualified candidate for US Senate and that election officials lacked a legal basis to boot him from the ballot.
The US Constitution lays out three exclusive qualifications for US Senate, addressing age, citizenship and residency, his attorneys wrote.
“Nothing in Alaska law regulates in any way the private motivations that draw individuals to declare or campaign for office,” the filing by attorneys Jeffrey Robinson, Bryn Pallesen and Zoe Eisberg states.
Sullivan’s entrance into the race, days before the June 1 filing deadline, drew condemnation from Sen. Sullivan and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. They called the challenger a sham candidate and alleged he was working with Democrats to boost Democratic former US Rep. Mary Peltola’s chances in the race. Peltola’s campaign and state Democrats have denied the allegation, as has the challenger.
Sen. Sullivan and Peltola are the highest-profile contenders in a race with more than a dozen candidates. It’s one of the most prominent US Senate races in this year’s midterm elections — one both parties consider crucial to their efforts to control the chamber.
Steve Kirch, a spokesperson for the election division, said the agency had no comment and does not discuss “ongoing reviews, investigations or related proceedings.” Beecher has previously noted that ballots are due to be printed Sunday.
On June 15, a week after Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced an investigation into the challenger Sullivan’s run, Beecher disqualified him. She concluded that his declaration of candidacy “was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”
In announcing an investigation, Dahlstrom cited “credible allegations” that Sullivan declared his candidacy “in coordination with another candidate and campaign” with an intent to confuse and “manipulate” voters. But in removing the challenger from the ballot, Beecher did not mention finding any evidence of alleged coordination with Peltola or Democratic Party officials.
The challenger Sullivan, when asked in an interview with the Associated Press earlier this month whether he’d had any contact with Peltola’s campaign, responded: “zero, none, zilch.”
Beecher said she based her decision on factors including that he had registered to vote as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and in conjunction with his candidacy changed his party affiliation to Republican. She cited similarities between his campaign website and the senator’s, and his work with a consultant whose clients have included some Democrats.
The form congressional candidates in Alaska complete asks them how they would like to be referred to on the ballot and their preferred party affiliation.
Beecher said she acted in line with a regulation that says a candidate’s name may not appear on a ballot with academic or professional titles or “in a manner that is confusing or misleading to voters or compromises the fairness or neutrality of the ballot.”
In response to questions from Democratic state Rep. Andrew Gray, legislative attorney Andrew Dunmire last week said the regulation cited by Beecher does not forbid placing Sullivan’s name on the ballot. He said the elections division could comply with it by designing the ballot in a way that allows voters to distinguish between both Sullivans.
It’s a position echoed by the attorneys for the challenger Sullivan.
The challenger initially had been certified and listed on the state’s candidate list as Dan J. Sullivan. The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan and denoted as the incumbent.
Alaska has open primaries in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the ranked-choice general election.