2nd Dan Sullivan makes the cut for Alaska Senate general election

Alaskans this November will have two individuals named Dan Sullivan on their ballot for U.S. Senate, in one of the races that both parties see as critical for determining the balance of power in the chamber.

The Associated Press projected overnight that retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan, a Republican, will advance in Alaska's top-four primary for U.S. Senate. Last week, the Associated Press projected that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola and Republican candidate and incumbent Dan S. Sullivan would advance.

Alaska holds top-four nonpartisan primary elections, meaning the top four vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of their political party. The Associated Press has not yet projected the fourth candidate who will advance to the general election for Senate. The primary was held Aug. 18.

As of 5:30 a.m. ET Wednesday, with 88% of the expected vote reporting, according to the AP's estimate, Peltola led with 48.2% of the vote, followed by incumbent Dan S. Sullivan with 42.6% and Dan J. Sullivan with 2.5%.

Because of Alaska's primary election system, in which the top four candidates with the most votes advance to the general election rather than one candidate from each party, both Sullivans will face off once more in the November general election, along with Peltola.

The November general election will also use ranked-choice voting, meaning voters' second- and third-choice candidates could matter in the final tabulation. The primary did not use ranked-choice voting.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in late June to allow Dan J. Sullivan to have a place on the Alaska ballot.

ABC News later reported that a federal grand jury issued subpoenas to those linked to the Dan J. Sullivan campaign, according to multiple officials familiar with the situation. Dan J. Sullivan recently registered as a Republican, and the Department of Justice is probing whether he was part of a conspiracy to purposefully confuse voters and whether the effort was done to help boost the Democratic challenger.

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Dan J. Sullivan is a cancer survivor and retired fifth-grade teacher. He said he has previously voted for and supported his now-opponent, Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola, and said he has attended events opposing President Donald Trump.

He said he differentiates himself from Sen. Dan S. Sullivan by saying he knows "firsthand the challenges everyday Alaskans face" while painting the senator as someone "focused on themselves instead of the people they were elected to serve," according to his campaign page.

Sen. Sullivan and Republicans have claimed that Dan J. Sullivan has ties to Peltola and was a Democratic plant intended to confuse voters and siphon votes away from the incumbent -- something that Peltola, Democrats and Dan J. Sullivan deny.

"My intention is not to trick people," Dan J. Sullivan said in a recent New York Times interview. "I would hope people are informed enough to know the difference between an incumbent senator and a teacher."