Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, is seeking a third term in the Senate in a competitive race that also features a well-known Democratic challenger and a man who shares his name.
Here are five things to know about Mr. Sullivan, the junior senator from Alaska, who is competing on Tuesday in a nonpartisan primary in which the top four finishers advance to the November general election.
1. Mr. Sullivan lost a court battle to kick another Dan Sullivan off the ballot. He’s Senator Dan S. Sullivan. One of his opponents is Dan J. Sullivan, a retired fifth-grade teacher without much of a political background but with a lot of name recognition. The lesser-known Mr. Sullivan has said his aim is to unseat the incumbent senator, but he has done little campaigning. Republicans fear that voters could confuse the two, and have accused Democrats of planting the second Sullivan to divide votes in what could be a close race. Democrats in the state, including the leading candidate in the race, have denied the accusations. Mr. Sullivan, the senator, brought the battle to court, but he ultimately lost in June, when the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Dan J. Sullivan could appear on the ballot, giving voters two Sullivans to choose from.
2. The senator faces a strong Democratic challenger. Alaska has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly two decades, but the conservative-leaning state has long inched toward the political center, and most Alaska voters are politically unaffiliated. A state poll has shown that former Representative Mary Peltola — a well-funded Democrat making an appeal to working-class, independent and Native voters — is competitive. National Democrats view Alaska as a must-win if they are to retake the Senate. The Cook Political Report considers the race a tossup.
3. President Trump has endorsed Mr. Sullivan. The senator has been a reliable supporter of Mr. Trump, including on the Iran war and sweeping tariffs, during the president’s second term. But Mr. Sullivan has occasionally broken ranks, voting with Democrats against Mr. Trump’s plans for a new White House ballroom and an effort to set up an “anti-weaponization” fund. Still, he is far more tethered to the right than Senator Lisa Murkowski, the state’s senior senator, a Republican moderate and a longtime party swing voter who has criticized Mr. Trump. “Sullivan may have positioned himself a little too far to the right for a lot of Alaskans,” said Glenn Wright, a political scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast. Mr. Sullivan’s ties to Trump could cause re-election troubles in Alaska, Mr. Wright said, given inflation and rising oil prices under the president, particularly in a state with a high cost of living.
4. He once worked in the State Department under President George W. Bush. Mr. Sullivan, 61, is a Marine veteran with a long track record in government. He was the assistant secretary of state for economic, energy and business affairs under President Bush from 2006 to 2009. Mr. Sullivan also served as Alaska’s attorney general and as commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources before first winning his Senate seat in 2014. “Alaska has a history of politicians with big personalities,” Mr. Wright said. “Sullivan, by all accounts, is quietly competent.”
5. He has emphasized his local endorsements. Mr. Sullivan features a picture with Mr. Trump on his campaign website, but he does not include the president in his list of endorsements. The incumbent has earned the support of the largest commercial fishing organization in the state, labor unions and a group representing Alaska Native corporations. He has been a staunch proponent of major oil and mining projects.
