{"id":1197,"date":"2026-08-03T12:06:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:06:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:06:01","slug":"battle-of-the-dans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1197","title":{"rendered":"Battle of the Dans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dan Sullivan doesn\u2019t want Dan Sullivan to be the senator for Alaska. Dan Sullivan is already the senator for Alaska and wants to keep it that way. He thinks that Dan Sullivan is trying to trick voters into thinking that he is Dan Sullivan, as part of a plot to oust Dan Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Read more Kevin Warsh Is Facing More Than a Communication Problem<\/a><\/p>\n

To add some helpful initials: in May, Dan\u00a0J. Sullivan, a retired teacher in Petersburg, Alaska, filed to run as a Republican against Dan\u00a0S. Sullivan, the G.O.P. incumbent, in a Senate race that Democrats see as a promising pickup opportunity; the Party\u2019s much hyped candidate, Mary Peltola, previously won as Alaska\u2019s representative in the House. (The top four candidates in the primary, which is on August 18th, will advance, regardless of party.) Dan\u00a0S. and his allies claimed that Dan\u00a0J. was a plant. Among other things, he had made (very small) donations to Peltola in the past, and he had initially asked to appear on the ballot as \u201cDan\u00a0S. Sullivan.\u201d (A typo, according to Dan\u00a0J.) Smelling a rat, officials disqualified Dan\u00a0J. But the courts soon overturned that decision. Dan\u00a0J. insists that he is running in good faith. Even if he weren\u2019t, his lawyer argued, candidates with \u201cun-American and unsavory\u201d goals seek office all the time.<\/p>\n

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Certainly, candidates have run against namesakes before, and have faced cries of foul play. When J.F.K. first stood for Congress, in 1946, his campaign allegedly induced a Boston janitor named Joe Russo to join a field that also included Joe Russo, a popular councilman. More recently, there have been three Bob Fergusons, two Bob Bakers, and two Jerry Garcias (neither of them the late Grateful Dead front man). Sometimes name clashes are clearly coincidental. When Dan\u00a0S. Sullivan first ran for Senate, in 2014, he appeared on the same ballot as Dan\u00a0A. Sullivan, the mayor of Anchorage, who was running for lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

In July, a correspondent reached Dan\u00a0J. Sullivan over Zoom. Dan\u00a0J. wore glasses, a fraying ball cap, and a light jacket. A pair of banjos and an octave mandolin hung on a wall behind him. (He plays both instruments, plus guitar and fiddle.) It was 7 A.M.<\/em>, and Dan\u00a0J. had a busy day ahead. His nephew was in town, and they were planning to fish for trout.<\/p>\n

Dan\u00a0J. is a third-generation Dan Sullivan, and one of seven Dans in his family. They use nicknames to tell one another apart. (Dan\u00a0J. wouldn\u2019t disclose his.) Some voters, it seems, could use such an aid now: when Dan\u00a0J. posted online about an interview he had done with a local public-radio station, a commenter erroneously took him to task for voting to defund public media in the Senate. He is, at least, drawing attention. \u201cI knew that my name recognition would get me immediate publicity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s succeeded beyond my wildest hopes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Why Donald Trump Talks So Much About Foreign Election Interference<\/a><\/p>\n

To find out more about the importance of standing out in a crowded field, the correspondent wrote to Dan\u00a0T. Sullivan, a marketing consultant based in Indiana who specializes in search-engine optimization\u2014the magic art of helping businesses surface on Google. Dan\u00a0T. replied, almost instantly, that the correspondent had found \u201cTHE RIGHT DAN SULLIVAN.\u201d Over the phone, Dan\u00a0T. said that he regularly fields e-mails meant for assorted other Dan Sullivans: pest-control reports (Ohio), hotel receipts (Florida), the details of a Ferrari test-track experience (the U.K.).<\/p>\n

Dan\u00a0T. said that, typically, in business, \u201cyou want to differentiate yourself with your name.\u201d In his own line of work, he could easily be mistaken for a Dan Sullivan who coaches entrepreneurs, or a Danny Sullivan who works at Google. If either of the Alaska Dan Sullivans were a client, Dan\u00a0T. would advise them to emphasize the order in which their names appear on the ballot, to make sure that voters know which is which. On a more philosophical note, he said he\u2019d remind them that \u201cnobody\u2019s one<\/em> thing.\u00a0You\u2019re a lot more than what your name is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dan\u00a0J. Sullivan, on the other hand, said he believes that \u201cyour name is your identity, for better or worse.\u201d He acknowledged that this had informed his decision to run against Dan\u00a0S., but not in a dirty-tricks kind of way. \u201cThere\u2019s a visceral tie that you have with someone who shares your name,\u201d he said. \u201cAs this person who has the same name as me is my representative and is making decisions that I don\u2019t think are necessarily moving our state forward, maybe it hangs on me a little harder than it does other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, Dan\u00a0J.\u2019s attention was directed to the 1886 governor\u2019s race in Tennessee, where two brothers, Alf and Bob Taylor, ran against each other. A cartoon at the time showed them side by side onstage, \u201cfiddling for votes.\u201d \u201cThat really tickled me,\u201d Dan\u00a0J. said. \u201cIf we were going one on one with Dan Sullivan, I\u2019m sure I could beat him in a fiddle contest.\u201d\u00a0\u2666<\/p>\n

Read more The Future, Made in China<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dan J. Sullivan and Dan S. Sullivan are both vying for a Senate seat in Alaska. Who will take the Last Frontier? Jon Allsop reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dept-of-nomenclature"],"yoast_head":"\nBattle of the Dans - City Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=1197\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Battle of the Dans - City Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dan J. 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