By SUZANNE DOWNING
July 10, 2026 – A lengthy investigative report published this week by National Review expands the national attention surrounding Alaska’s unusual US Senate race, arguing that the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. — dubbed Decoy Dan — is part of a broader political strategy designed to create voter confusion in Alaska’s weirdly designed ranked-choice election system.
The article brings together many of the same threads that The Alaska Story has reported for weeks, while placing Alaska’s ballot controversy into a national context involving certain Democratic political consultants and even to Senate races in several other states.
“This didn’t happen by accident: It’s the end result of an orchestrated plot carried out by a group of Democratic operatives — also involved in other consequential Senate races, including Maine, Michigan, and Nebraska — who are willing to mislead voters if it gives their party a better chance to retake the upper chamber,” the article states.
The controversy centers on the appearance of two identically named candidates on Alaska’s primary ballot: incumbent US Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Republican seeking reelection, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. of Petersburg, who is suddenly also a Republican.
The Alaska Division of Elections initially removed Daniel Sullivan from the ballot after an administrative investigation concluded that he had filed under a version of his name that more closely matched the incumbent senator and had taken other actions that strongly suggested his intent to confuse voters. Those findings included similarities in campaign branding and evidence that he had not historically used the version of his name appearing on the ballot. He also had not been a registered Republican, as he claimed.
But the Alaska Supreme Court later ruled that the Division exceeded its authority by considering Sullivan’s motives rather than limiting its review to the statutory qualifications for office. As a result, both candidates will appear on the August primary ballot.
That legal ruling did not reject the Division’s factual findings regarding the campaign’s conduct. Instead, the court concluded that motive is not one of the eligibility requirements established by Alaska law.
National Review builds upon the background of the election trickery by tracing relationships between Decoy Dan Sullivan’s campaign and certain Alaska Democratic political consultants.
The magazine notes that Sullivan’s campaign announcement was prepared by Alaska political consultant Amber Lee, whose name appeared in metadata attached to the campaign announcement. The Alaska Story originated the discovery of those metadata and Lee’s role after obtaining campaign documents.
The article also examines connections involving former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (now running for Alaska governor), Democrat consultant James Lottsfeldt, and political committees that have supported Democratic candidates, including former US Rep. Mary Peltola’s political efforts.
“So how did Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from the 3,000-person town of Petersburg, Alaska, get drawn into this scheme? It doesn’t appear he came up with the idea himself. Sullivan’s son, Noah Sullivan, previously worked for Alaska Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, both as an intern for his state house office and as field representative for Kreiss-Tomkins’s state representative reelection campaign,” the National Review reveals.
Yet, there’s more: National Review notes that Lottsfeldt has served as treasurer for political committees supporting Mary Peltola and previously worked to oppose Sen. Dan Sullivan’s original 2014 Senate campaign. Lottsfeldt and Kreiss-Tomkins co-hosted the launch of Kreiss-Tomkins’ gubernatorial campaign earlier this year, relationships the magazine cites as part of the broader network surrounding the copycat Sullivan candidacy.
The report also reveals more about Amber Lee: “Lee also has connections to the other consultants hovering around [Decoy Dan] Sullivan. She was working at Lottsfeldt Strategies in February, 2025, when the firm was paid by Peltola’s PAC, according to an archived version of the firm’s website. Lee’s bio has since been scrubbed from the website and her affiliation with the firm is not reflected on her LinkedIn account.” She also fled to Ireland recently.
One of the article’s broader arguments is that Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system creates unique incentives for voter confusion.
Unlike a traditional partisan primary, Alaska advances the top four vote-getters regardless of party. In the general election, voters rank candidates in order of preference, and ballots are redistributed through multiple rounds of counting until one candidate receives a majority.
National Review argues that if some voters mistakenly select Decoy Daniel J. Sullivan believing they are voting for the incumbent senator, those ballots could affect the order of elimination and later rounds of tabulation even if the copycat candidate ultimately receives relatively few votes.
That concern has been central to the state’s investigation from the beginning.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom requested the original investigation after receiving allegations that Decoy Daniel Sullivan’s candidacy may not have been genuine.
In her letter initiating the review, Dahlstrom wrote that she was concerned Decoy Dan Sullivan may have coordinated with another campaign “with the intention of confusing Alaskan voters in a way that will benefit one candidate over another.”
Because declarations of candidacy are submitted under penalty of perjury, Dahlstrom asked election officials to determine whether Sullivan’s filing complied with Alaska law.
The Division ultimately concluded Sullivan was not a bona fide candidate and removed him from the ballot before the Alaska Supreme Court restored his candidacy on legal grounds.
The Alaska Story has also reported on additional developments surrounding the controversy, including complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission, the expedited court proceedings, public statements by legislators on both sides of the issue, and Sullivan’s subsequent request for attorney’s fees after prevailing before the Alaska Supreme Court.
National Review further reports that the US Department of Justice is investigating aspects of the campaign. Federal authorities have not publicly confirmed the existence or scope of any investigation, and no criminal charges have been filed.
With early voting approaching, the Alaska Senate race now carries national implications beyond the state itself. Republicans are defending one of the seats that could determine control of the US Senate, while Democrats view Alaska as one of several competitive opportunities this election cycle.
For Alaska voters, however, the practical reality is straightforward: when ballots are printed next month, they will contain two candidates with the identical name “Dan Sullivan,” an unprecedented situation that has drawn attention from election lawyers, national political observers, and media outlets across the country.
Read The National Review’s report at this link.
9 thoughts on “National Review spotlights ‘Decoy Dan’ controversy, ties JKT, Jim Lottsfeldt to Alaska ballot dispute”
Tony Knowles is actively campaigning for Jonathan Kriess-Tompkins (JKT), the little boy in a skirt. So now we have LGBTQ persons involved in more voter confusion activity. Since LGBTQ persons are themselves, totally confused, all of this makes sense. Petersburg and Sitka are liberal bastions and has almost zero chance of spawning a large political victory. But with these unique circumstances, coupled with all kinds of Democrat operatives trying to fool the public, the conservatives really need to stay on their toes. We can’t have communists and fags running the Last Frontier. Thank you, Suzanne, for your investigative work and your terrific, well- written articles that expose the leftistists and Marxists trying to gain the upper hand in Alaska.
Plain and simple: democrats can’t win if they can’t cheat, and they know it. To them, there are no such things as right or wrong; if they can get away with something, it’s ok.
Well there is that whole January 6 thing staged by Republicans.
Good example. After dirty democrats cheated oblivious old Joe Biden into office, ending up with a statistically impossible, totally laughable 81 million votes, the dirty democrats running the FBI infiltrated the crowd with over 250 plainclothes operatives, sent to stir up violence at the protest on Jan. 6th ’21. The dirty, dishonest Nancy Pelosi refused national guard troops for security. After the fact dirty democrat judges LIED IN COURT, stating that “police officers were killed” on Jan. 6th. Absolutely NO officers were killed. The unarmed Ashli Babbitt was shot dead by the incompetent DEI hire Michael Byrd. Roseanne Boyland was beaten to death by another capitol police officer. So, yeah, in a way that illustrates my point.
And the lie never dies.. Republicans did not stage the so called January 6 “thing”.. But, that truthful knowledge requires a functioning brain, which reveals who actually was behind the movement… Hint “The FBI, implants, and the dirty democrats”.
Alaskas elections have been rigged from the very beginning when their US Feds made the Territory “vote” to join the Union on unequal footing, This rigged election “gesture” of democracy avoided Constitutional Due Process requirements that limited US Feds jurisdiction in a new State. They also flooded the vote with out of State Military votes that resulted in Alaskans are enslaved to their government that still treats Alaska like it’s Territory that is subordinate to their US federal government. Where Freedoms, Liberties and Rights guaranteed by our Constitution are not real but only words. And every 2 years their DOJ comes to Alaska to “oversee” our “elections” to make sure their “puppets” are installed
fact- the Podesta Lobby group, John, Tony and Heather, (yes, those spirit cooking, walnut sauce making Podestas!) installed murky in the write in campaign. seems like quite a few rinos were placed by them throughout the country. but The PLG places executives on energy boards and other groups. almost all politicians have a ‘hidden hand’ that furthers a dark agenda.
so many missing in alaska with one of the largest fbi field offices. there’ so much corruption: judicial, law enforcement, ngo’s and go’s. research ‘soapy’s 100’ and you realize the multigeneration scams being runnin AK
Quick question:
Is JKT a homosexual? He sounds and talks like a gay man. He has male relatives with the same characteristics, which makes me wonder about the entire family. And does it matter? Yes! We have too much LGBTQ politics in our lives already. It’s very disruptive.
This is and has been an Article I, Section 4 issue, it states “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.” The AK Supreme Court claimed that the AK Division of Elections does not have the exact wording required to protect the entire electorate from outright fraud, Daniel J Sullivan Jr. did not even contest this point in court…likely due to fear of (further) perjury.