Dan Sullivan

The stage is set in the U.S. Senate and House races for key showdowns to emerge from the sprawling fields of candidates, following Monday night’s filing deadline.

In the U.S. Senate contest, the battle between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, is expected to get top billing.

But for now, the Dan Sullivan vs. Dan Sullivan matchup is taking center stage.

On Friday, a second Dan Sullivan, this one from Petersburg and with a career in teaching, joined the race to challenge the incumbent of the same name.

The National Senatorial Republican Committee has called the filing a ruse initiated by Peltola and Democrats to draw votes from the incumbent.

On Monday, the committee sent a letter to the Alaska Division of Elections, seeking to prevent that challenger, Dan J. Sullivan, from appearing on the Aug. 18 primary ballot against the incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan.

Harry Child, Peltola campaign spokesperson, said Tuesday that the Peltola campaign “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.”

”Mary is focused on lowering costs for Alaskans,” Child said. “It doesn’t matter who else is on the ballot, Mary is going to win by building a broad coalition of Alaskans ready to take on the rigged system and put Alaska first.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. House race features 14 challengers seeking the seat held by Rep. Nick Begich, a Republican.

The opponents mounting the most prominent campaigns include Democrat Matt Schultz, a pastor at Anchorage First Presbyterian Church, and independent Bill Hill, a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and former educator who is Dena’ina Athabascan.

The mob of candidates in both races also consists of several people from outside Alaska, including a felon in prison and his mom.

The primary is set for Aug. 18. That will winnow the races to the top four candidates, setting up the final event on Nov. 3.

A nationally watched race

The Senate race consists of 16 candidates.

But the star matchup between Peltola and Sen. Sullivan is drawing national scrutiny and huge contributions, with Democrats hoping to flip the seat to help regain control of the Senate.

Peltola, from Southwest Alaska, became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress in 2022, before losing to Begich in 2024.

Early this year she reported hauling in nearly $9 million, a record amount for a first-quarter period in an Alaska Senate contest, her campaign said.

That beat Sullivan’s take of nearly $8 million.

But the second-term senator, a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer and advocate of President Donald Trump, has been out-raised before, and won. That includes in 2020, when he beat Al Gross, an independent candidate backed by Democrats.

The fight over Dan J. Sullivan

The Senate race added a surprise drama last week with the entry of Dan J. Sullivan, who is now listed as a registered Republican, though last week he was listed as “undeclared,” Alaska Division of Elections online voter records showed.

Dan J. Sullivan did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee said his entrance into the race is a fraudulent attempt to manipulate election laws and befuddle voters in Alaska, according to their letter to state elections officials and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom.

“Alaska regulations provide that a candidate’s name may not appear on the ballot in a manner that is ‘confusing or misleading to voters or compromises the fairness or neutrality of the ballot,’” the committee wrote. “You must uphold your statutory obligation to enforce those regulations and protect the principles they safeguard by keeping Sham Candidate Sullivan off the ballot.”

“The (Alaska) Division of Elections has no comment of this time,” said Stephen Kirch, the agency’s spokesperson, on Tuesday when asked how it will respond to the letter.

The letter, backed up by letters from NRSC legal counsel Blake Murphy to Dan J. Sullivan and others, suggests the committee is prepared for a legal fight.

It raises questions about the possible involvement of Amber Lee, an Alaska political strategist who has worked for a variety of campaigns in recent years and backed Peltola in the past.

The metadata for the press release on Dan J. Sullivan’s entry into the race Friday indicated it was created by Lee.

“Federal Election Commission records show that Amber Lee’s consulting firm, Amber Lee Strategies, has received thousands of dollars for ‘PAC Strategy Consulting’ from a PAC that has been a supporter of Candidate Peltola,” the letter from the National Republican Senatorial Committee says.

“There is no credible explanation for this type of coordination between Sham Candidate Sullivan and Candidate Peltola’s consultants other than to exploit Alaska’s Voting system in order to benefit Candidate Peltola,” the letter says.

The letter does not suggest Lee violated any laws.

Lee declined to comment Friday on whether she was involved in Dan J. Sullivan’s entry into the race. Lee again did not respond to requests for comment about the letter from the NRSC on Tuesday.

Dan J. Sullivan has donated $650 in small amounts to Democratic candidates and nominees running nationwide over several years, the letter points out, citing Federal Elections Commission records.

Those included a total of $130 to Mary Peltola in 2022 and 2024, the records show.

The letter also alleges that Dan J. Sullivan “stole” the incumbent’s “long-established campaign logo and campaign branding: same blue and gold color scheme; same font and typography; same prominent display of ‘Sullivan,’ with an identical size of ‘U.S. Senate’ designation; and even the same Alaska North Star over the entire logo.”

That’s a violation of intellectual property law, the letter asserts.

Nate Adams, the spokesperson for Sen. Sullivan, said in a statement Tuesday: “This blatant attempt to confuse and disenfranchise Alaskans undermines confidence in our elections, and if allowed to stand, will deny voters the honest choice they deserve. We are reviewing all of our options and aren’t ruling anything out.”

Nick Puglia, regional press secretary with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Tuesday that “Alaskans are smarter than Peltola thinks, and their scheme isn’t going to work.”

Other candidates in the Senate race include five other Republicans: Dustin Darden, Fred Grauberger, Gerald Heikes, Richard Mayers (from out of state) and Heather McElwain.

There are three Democrats, including Peltola, David Leslie and Carol Hafner (from out of state, with a son in prison who’s running in the U.S. House race against Begich).

The slate of candidates also includes Green Party member Richard Grayson (from out of state), Alaskan Party member Earl Southworth, Libertarian Scott Kohlhaas and nonpartisan candidates Sidney Hill, Reece Roberts and Shirley Saucerman.

A big House contest

In the U.S. House race, 14 candidates are hoping to unseat Rep. Nick Begich.

Begich has built a strong fundraising lead over his top challengers.

Hill and Schultz have each raised less than $800,000, putting them well behind Begich’s haul of $4.3 million.

After expenses, Begich reported $2.8 million cash on hand after the first quarter, several times more than the amount held by the challengers.

In the House, Begich has closely aligned himself with Trump and his agenda. He’s part of the prominent family that includes his uncles, Democrats Tom Begich, running for governor, and former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.

Hill, who grew up in a Southwest Alaska village, taught public school in Juneau and was superintendent of the Bristol Bay Borough School District. He retired from public education in 2023 after being named Alaska’s superintendent of the year.

Candidates in the U.S. House race also include Democrats John Williams, Yaquelin Reynoso (from out of state) and Eric Hafner, an incarcerated felon who filed to run in Alaska from behind bars (out of state) — spurring an Alaska Supreme Court case — and whose mom is running for U.S. Senate in Alaska.

The race also includes independents David Ambrose, Lady Donna Dutchess, David Richey, Melanie Salazar (from out of state) and Matthew Williams; Libertarians John Foddrill (out of state) and James McDermott; and Republicans Eddie Goldfarb (out of state) and Clay Strickland.