Monday’s Alaska Supreme Court hearing will decide whether Dan J. Sullivan, a 70-year-old retired teacher from Petersburg, stays on the Aug. 18 U.S. Senate primary ballot after the state appealed immediately.
Tuesday’s ballot-printing deadline forced the expedited schedule after an Anchorage judge ruled the Division of Elections unlawfully used a "good-faith" test not found in the U.S. Constitution, Alaska statutes or regulations.
Judge Thomas Matthews also said the state failed to prove by a preponderance of evidence that the namesake Republican was trying to confuse voters or mislead them into backing him over incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The dispute began after complaints from the Alaska Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which argued Democrats encouraged the candidacy to siphon votes from the senator in a race that could affect Senate control.
Under Alaska’s top-four system, all candidates appear on the same Aug. 18 primary ballot, with the four highest finishers advancing to November.