Republicans are in a state of high dudgeon about Alaska Dems possibly having recruited a Dan Sullivan to run for US Senate when the Republican incumbent is another Dan Sullivan. I don’t understand how they think their guy is going to be harmed by the other Dan Sullivan. I mean, it would be plausible–barely, since the incumbent Dan Sullivan is plainly labeled as such on the ballot–in a “normal” election, but Alaska has ranked-choice voting. The winner has to get to 50 percent, if not in the first round, then in a subsequent one. So what exactly is the scenario wherein confused and illiterate voters inadvertently help Democrat Mary Petola win?
Suppose Petola is named as the first choice by 51 percent of voters, to 40-some percent for the incumbent Sullivan, and a few percent for ersatz Sullivan. Is the argument that confused Alaskans didn’t know which Sullivan to vote for, and so voted for Petola? Makes no sense. More than half the voters wanted Petola over any Sullivan, therefore she wins, fair and square.
Now suppose that no one gets to 50 percent in the first round, and that the outcome is going to be determined by the second choice indicated on ballots marked for ersatz Sullivan. For Petola to benefit from a dirty game, Republicans who wanted incumbent Sullivan, but in their confusion chose ersatz Sullivan, would now have to name Democrat Petola as their next favorite pick.
If Republican voters are that dumb, I say they deserve to lose. It’s a built-in literacy test that I can support. Here’s the thing: a vote for any Sullivan, in any round, contributes toward holding Petola under 50 percent in that round. And she can’t win unless she gets to 50 percent.
I think the Republican outrage, which includes a lawsuit filed by Trump’s lawyers (aka, hilariously, the Department of “Justice”) is fake and a pretext for shenanigans after Petola wins. Here is what Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s Republican senator who isn’t up for reelection this year, had to say on the subject:
She’s right, of course. Murkowski, by the way, in 2010 lost the Republican primary to a nut. For the general election, she mounted a write-in campaign, and won–she got 101,000 write-in votes, to 90,000 for the nut, and 60,000 for the Democrat. I guess a hundred thousand Alaskans can be persuaded to write in the name of someone who isn’t even on the ballot, but are overcome by confusion if two dudes named Sullivan appear. (And one of them is identified on the ballot as the Republican incumbent.)
It’s tempting to joke that Team Trump has an even dimmer view than I of the cognitive skills of their voters.
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