Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, is managing a challenge not only from a Democratic opponent but also from another candidate with a similar name, Dan J. Sullivan Jr., an independent. Alaska state Sen. James Kaufman has expressed concern over potential voter confusion.

Kaufman mentioned hearing from at least one person who needed to slow down to avoid making a voting mistake, highlighting the risk for less politically engaged voters.

Primary results indicate Sullivan Jr.’s campaign, centered on his logging background, has slightly diluted support for the incumbent, though not enough to change the frontrunner status. The ranked-choice voting system in November might amplify this effect, with Republicans working to alert voters about the two Sullivans.

“I’ve had at least one person say they had to slow down to make sure they didn’t make a mistake.” – James Kaufman

Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, led the primary with a 5.4% advantage over Sen. Sullivan. Sullivan Jr. captured only 2.3% of the vote, insufficient to bridge the gap if combined with the senator’s votes. Randy Ruedrich, a former Republican Party chairman, sees evidence of voter confusion, recalling past instances of name confusion impacting elections in Alaska.

Ruedrich noted that a candidate’s name similarity led to enough votes for advancement in a previous election, such as Buzz Kelly versus Kelly Tshibaka.

“We’ve had identity issues and confusion in the past.” – Randy Ruedrich

The third candidate, Gerald Heikes, also draws attention. Although a frequent contender without substantial funding in the past, this year sees him supported financially by a Massachusetts liberal, causing some interest.

Heikes is backed by Right for Alaska, which spent $1.2 million against Sen. Sullivan and $410,000 to support Heikes. Whether Heikes will progress to the general election remains undecided.

The general election uses a ranked-choice voting system. Voters rank candidates by preference. If their top pick is eliminated, their vote moves to their next choice. Supporters see this as empowering voters, while critics worry about added confusion.

Kaufman is concerned that voters might skip ranking both Sullivans. He points out that some Alaskans disagree with the ranked-choice system.

“Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote.” – James Kaufman

Kaufman and Ruedrich expect Republicans to focus on clarifying the issue before the November election date.

Sullivan Jr.’s strongest backing came from Petersburg Kupreanof, where he earned 66 votes to Sen. Sullivan’s 213.

Upon request for comment, Sullivan Jr.’s campaign did not immediately respond.