WASILLA, Alaska — In a Wasilla campaign rally Tuesday, President Donald Trump urged Alaskans to support incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, calling him the real Dan Sullivan in a tight Senate race complicated by another candidate with nearly the same name.
Sullivan, a Republican, is seeking reelection against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. House member. Also on the Nov. 3 ballot is Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher running as a Republican. Recent polls show the incumbent and Peltola nearly even in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2008.
Trump said Democrats put up the similarly named challenger to confuse voters. He pointed to the roughly 2.5 percent the other Sullivan received in the August primary and warned that share could decide the race. The incumbent will appear with language identifying him as the registered Republican incumbent.
Republicans have accused Democrats of exploiting Alaska ranked-choice voting to siphon support from the sitting senator. Trump also urged voters to back Ballot Measure 2 to repeal ranked-choice voting, calling the system a scam.
Democrats have treated Alaska as a possible flip seat in their push for at least four Senate gains. Heading into the Wasilla rally, Peltola held about a 1.4-point edge over Sullivan in the RealClearPolitics average. The Wasilla stop was the first leg of a Trump western campaign swing that also includes Arizona and Montana.
The challenger will appear on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan. Trump said that after a court fight the challenger sought to change a middle initial, and he told voters to remember Dan Sullivan, Republican incumbent.
