New York Times goes hunting for ‘Decoy Dan’ — and finds a Kamala Harris voter running as an Alaska Republican

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Aug. 18, 2026 – The strange case of Alaska’s two Dan Sullivans proved so intriguing that The New York Times sent reporters to Petersburg to investigate the retired schoolteacher whose name now appears beside that of Alaska’s sitting US senator on Tuesday’s primary ballot.

What the newspaper found will do little to quiet Republican suspicions that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is running as a Republican primarily to confuse voters and damage incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

The Petersburg candidate told the newspaper he voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024, Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, and Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

He also voted for Sen. Lisa Murkowski in 2022 and former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola in 2024, according to the report. This summer, he attended one of the “No Kings” demonstrations organized nationally to protest President Donald Trump and his administration.

Yet on Alaska’s primary ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is identified as a Republican, the same party as the incumbent senator whose nearly identical name appears nearby.

The Times’ expedition to Petersburg underscores how the “Decoy Dan” controversy has transformed an obscure Alaska candidacy into a national political story.

The Real Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, a two-term Republican endorsed by Trump, is seeking reelection in what could become a close and enormously expensive contest against Peltola. Sullivan has assembled a campaign fund of roughly $7 million, while national groups are preparing to spend millions more in a race that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate.

The Decoy Dan Sullivan is a retired teacher living in Petersburg, who entered the race in late May, initially presenting himself online in a way that made his political affiliation unclear. He filed for the Senate as a Republican even though he was an Undeclared voter.

That timing, his name and his political history immediately raised alarms among Republicans.

The Alaska Story first reported the unusual candidacy on May 29, before it became a national curiosity. Since then, Republicans have described the Petersburg candidate as a decoy, a. sham, or a spoiler whose presence could cause some voters to select the wrong Dan Sullivan.

President Trump has also weighed in, warning Alaska voters about what he called political “trickery” and emphasizing that the senator’s name includes the middle initial “S.”

The Petersburg Sullivan denies that he is working with Democrats or entered the race to help Peltola. No evidence has been publicly produced proving coordination between him and Peltola’s campaign, but he has been working with Democrat operatives, that much is established.

His admitted voting record, as described to the Times, makes his decision to run as a Republican even more difficult to explain.

Over the past three presidential elections, he supported the Democratic nominee every time. In Alaska’s two most recent statewide congressional elections, he supported Murkowski, who was backed by Democrats and opposed by the Alaska Republican Party, and Peltola, the leading Democrat now challenging Sen. Sullivan.

He has also conducted little resembling a traditional statewide campaign. He has raised little money, maintained a limited public schedule and largely avoided national press inquiries. The Times reported that its journalists traveled to Petersburg after he failed to respond to repeated interview requests.

Alaska election officials initially determined that Sullivan’s filing was not made in good faith and removed him from the ballot. The Division of Elections cited circumstantial evidence suggesting the candidacy was intended to mislead voters, although officials said they had not found proof of coordination with a political campaign.

A Superior Court judge reversed that decision, ruling that election officials lacked the authority to disqualify him on those grounds. The Alaska Supreme Court allowed the ruling to stand, putting Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. back on the ballot.

The US Department of Justice subsequently opened an investigation into possible election interference, but no charges have been announced.

The controversy is especially consequential because Alaska no longer holds traditional party primaries. All candidates appear together on one ballot, and the top four finishers advance to the November general election regardless of party.

With approximately 600,000 registered voters and a Senate race expected to be close, Republicans say even a relatively small number of voters mistakenly marking the wrong Sullivan could have an effect.

The ballot identifies the incumbent as Daniel S. Sullivan and the Petersburg challenger as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Still, many voters know the senator simply as Dan Sullivan, the same name the challenger prominently used when launching his campaign.

Weirdest primaries of 2026: Alaska’s tale of two Dan Sullivans wins the prize for weirdness

Campaign in turmoil: Mary Peltola loses longtime manager days before Alaska primary

AirTag sting: Seward citizen tracks stolen Sullivan campaign sign after city officials single him out over political display