URL: https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2026-midterm-elections/decoy-dan-alaska-senate-race/
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Alaska’s unsettled Senate contest may turn on a political oddity hiding in plain sight on the ballot. As votes continue to be counted, support cast for the wrong Dan Sullivan could make the difference in a race separated by less than one percentage point.
With 74% of the vote counted, the contest remains unresolved. The confusion centers on the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan, an unusual ballot complication that some voters told NewsNation caught them by surprise Tuesday.
The candidate dubbed “Decoy Dan” has received less than 2% of the Alaska vote, according to the latest polls. That share may look small in isolation, but the leading candidates are locked in a much tighter margin.
NewsNation tracked down one Alaska voter over the weekend who was described as “paranoid” about the ballot situation. The voter indicated that the second Sullivan was not someone he remembered seeing or intending to support.
“I might be just having a brain freeze, but I don’t remember the second Dan Sullivan. I definitely intended to vote for the real Dan Sullivan,” the voter said.
That account put a human face on the confusion surrounding two candidates with the same first and last names. It also raised the possibility that at least one vote intended for Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan instead went to the other Dan Sullivan.
Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola remains optimistic about her prospects. Her confidence comes after the Democrats’ landslide victory, while DDHQ polling showed her leading Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan by less than one percentage point.
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Peltola brushed aside allegations surrounding how the second Dan Sullivan reached the ballot. A New York Times report said her campaign worked with people seeking to recruit Dan J. Sullivan to enter the Senate race through what was called a “ballot composition project.”
The allegation has added another layer of controversy to a contest already defined by a narrow count and an oddly duplicated candidate name. Peltola, however, did not give the accusations the same weight that her Republican opponent did.
Dan S. Sullivan sharply criticized Peltola and portrayed the ballot issue as part of a broader pattern by her campaign. His response was direct and left little doubt about how seriously he viewed the dispute.
“My opponent has run her campaign on literally from the beginning, purposely misleading Alaskans, cheating, and then lying for the last year and a half,” Sullivan said.
The competing reactions capture the divide surrounding the ballot controversy. Peltola remained upbeat and paid little mind to the allegations, while Sullivan accused her campaign of deliberate misconduct and deception.
At the same time, the count is not finished. Alaska’s deadline for absentee ballots is not until Nov. 18, meaning additional ballots can still factor into the final result before the state’s voting process reaches its deadline.
The unresolved tally leaves both the narrow lead and the “Decoy Dan” vote under scrutiny. With less than 2% going to that candidate and less than one percentage point separating Peltola and Dan S. Sullivan, the arithmetic has become impossible for either side to ignore.
For voters who intended to support the Republican incumbent but selected the other Sullivan, the duplicated name carries more than comic value. In a contest this close, the wrong Dan Sullivan could end up playing an outsized role in determining which candidate prevails.
The final outcome remains dependent on the continuing count and the absentee ballot deadline, with the peculiar second Sullivan candidacy looming over every update.