ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Shortly after losing its battle to keep a second Dan Sullivan off the Aug. 18 primary ballot, the Alaska Division of Elections on Monday released a sample ballot that takes unusual steps to distinguish between the incumbent U.S. senator and the challenger of the same name.

The sample ballot indicates that the challenger will be listed as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." with no party affiliation although he chose to be listed as a Republican — the same party as Sen. Dan S. Sullivan — and asked for his first name to be listed as Dan, which is what he says people have always called him.

The two-term senator will be listed as "Sullivan, Dan S." and as a "(Registered Republican) Incumbent."

The Alaska Division of Elections did not immediately respond to questions about the ballot listing, including why the division proposed no party affiliation for Dan J. Sullivan after initially proposing a nonpartisan listing, and whether it had ever designated a candidate on a ballot as an incumbent.

State regulations call for using middle initials on the ballot to distinguish between candidates of the same name, in this case Dan J. Sullivan and Dan S. Sullivan. In earlier court arguments, an attorney for the Division of Elections said they didn't believe a middle initial was "sufficient" to distinguish between the two.

A review of sample ballots listed on the division's website from the past five general elections did not show candidates for federal office listed as incumbents.

The listing is the latest development in a monthlong saga that began after Dan J. Sullivan, 70 and a retired teacher from Petersburg, signed up to run for the same seat as Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The case has drawn national attention and involves a race that could determine control of the Senate in November. Several parties were allowed to file "friends of the court" briefs in the case, including Iowa and 13 other states that supported the Division of Elections' argument.

Jeffrey Robinson, an attorney representing Dan J. Sullivan, did not say whether a lawsuit will be filed to challenge the appearance of the ballot.

Robinson said in an emailed statement Tuesday that the candidate was "buoyed by yesterday's decisive victory at the Alaska Supreme Court."

But the Petersburg Sullivan currently has no comment about the ballot-naming issue, he said.

"To the extent that the Division of Elections is still grappling with how it will properly effectuate ballot design in a manner consistent with Alaska law and past practice, he has no comment, and he looks forward to running his campaign," Robinson said.

The Alaska Supreme Court in a speedy decision Monday upheld a lower court order that determined the challenger is eligible to appear on the Aug. 18 primary ballot. The decision overturned an administrative determination by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher — a Republican — who disqualified Dan J. Sullivan earlier in June because according to the division, he had not signed up in "good faith."

The state has set a noon deadline on Tuesday, June 30, for printing ballots.

The ruling came one week after the Petersburg Sullivan had appealed to the courts to get his name placed on the ballot. An Anchorage Superior Court judge ruled in his favor late Friday night, saying that the Division of Elections' decision to keep him off the ballot "was based on a 'good-faith' requirement" that doesn't appear in the U.S. Constitution, state statute or the division's regulations. That order paved the way for the appeal to the state's highest court.

The Alaska Supreme Court, in its short summary decision, left it up to the Division of Elections "to determine" how the Petersburg Sullivan "shall be listed as a candidate within the confines of existing Alaska ballot design law," its order said.

The state's failed attempt to disqualify the Petersburg Sullivan came after the Alaska Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee complained to the division that Democrats had encouraged the challenger to run, in order to benefit the incumbent senator's top opponent, Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola.

The Petersburg Sullivan has maintained that he is running because he believes the senator has done a poor job serving Alaskans. He has rejected accusations that he is trying to trick voters.

The division has argued that upon his declaration of candidacy in late May, the challenger changed his party designation from undeclared to Republican, though he had not previously affiliated as a Republican in 40-plus years of registering to vote in Alaska.

Attorneys for the state and the Petersburg Sullivan grappled before the state Supreme Court over what steps the Division of Elections could or could not take to distinguish the candidates on Monday.

Attorneys for the challenger argued in their brief to the court the division could "avoid confusion by listing both candidates' middle initials," with a Dan J. Sullivan and Dan S. Sullivan on the ballot. The brief noted that early last month, the division had initially agreed to do that.

The brief continued, "Alaska law expressly allows Mr. Sullivan to choose to be listed on the ballot as a Republican-affiliated candidate, as he has done, and provides for his listing as Nonpartisan only if Mr. Sullivan 'would prefer' that."

The state had initially proposed in its brief to the court that it would list Daniel James Sullivan Jr. as a nonpartisan, while Sen. Dan Sullivan would be listed as a "registered Republican" and labeled as the incumbent.

Attorneys for the Petersburg Sullivan argued that designating Sen. Dan S. Sullivan as the incumbent on the primary ballot would provide an "electoral advantage" that isn't provided for under Alaska law and doesn't appear to have been granted in prior elections.

Under Alaska's election laws, all candidates regardless of party affiliation will appear on the same ballot in the primary election, scheduled for Aug. 18. The top four vote-getters will advance to the November general election.

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