Alaska Court Allows Two Dan Sullivans to Compete

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a Republican challenger named Dan Sullivan is qualified to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Dan Sullivan, ordering election officials to place the challenger on the August primary ballot. This decision overturns a previous ruling that had removed the challenger from the ballot. The court's brief ruling affirmed a decision made by state court Judge Thomas Matthews, who had found the division of elections had "abused its discretion" in booting the challenger. The supreme court has sent the issue of how the challenger should be listed on the ballot back to the division of elections, to be handled "within the confines of existing Alaska ballot design law."