Letter To Santa Claus: You Ran For U.S. House. Did You Confuse Alaska's Voters?

COPPER RIVER COUNTRY JOURNAL 

The Journal Asks Santa. Can Alaska's Voters 
Be Tricked By A Name On The Ballot?  

In 2022, after Don Young died, Santa Claus turned up on the lengthy ballot for U.S. House in Alaska, running for Young's former seat. Now this wasn't the real Santa Claus, but it did seem somewhat confusing – as well as kind of funny.  Santa? Was this even legal? Yet Santa's name sailed right on through the vetting process, and though he didn't win, people did vote for him. 

Today, there's another interesting dual name situation. Dan Sullivan, the incumbent U.S. Senator, is being challenged for his seat by an unknown Dan Sullivan who is a former schoolteacher from Petersburg.

According to the first Dan Sullivan, Alaska voters can be confused – even tricked – by having two people with the same name run for Senate. His camp believes that this is a plot by his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, to unseat him unfairly. Yet, the Petersburg Sullivan says his name is Dan, too, and maintains he's legit and has rung all the proper bells and whistles. 

The state has said it intends to remove the second Petersburg Dan Sullivan from the ballot.

It's been a huge national and Alaskan story, so the Journal wrote to Santa Claus in North Pole on June 12th, 2026 and asked him what he thinks. Can Alaskans deal with the concept of confusing names -- whether they're Dan Sullivan or Santa?

From Santa's website. 

 LETTER FROM SANTA 

Here's a brief summary of his reply. Not surprisingly, Santa told the Journal that he believes both Sullivans are legitimate, and that Alaskan voters can figure out the difference between them. 

Santa said:

"This year, both Dan Sullivans meet the residency and age requirements and have registered their candidacies. The Federal Election Commission and State of Alaska can add their middle names or initials to differentiate them, since they both have registered as Republicans. It's up to each Dan Sullivan to present their platform, and the duty of voters to become familiar with those platforms."

Santa touched on another time, ten years ago, when there were two Dan Sullivans running for U.S. Senator, too. This other Dan Sullivan was mayor of Anchorage from 2009 to 2015. Ten years ago, the Mayor Dan Sullivan candidate briefly ran against Lisa Murkowski for the U.S. Senate, while the current Dan Sullivan was serving in the Senate. The Mayor Dan Sullivan dropped out of the race, but if he had beaten Murkowski, there would have been two Dan Sullivans representing Alaska in Washington, neither one of them from Petersburg.

As Santa pointed out to the Journal, both the Senator Dan Sullivan, originally from Ohio, and the Mayor Dan Sullivan, of Anchorage, were campaigning another time without being challenged by the state: 

"... note that Dan Sullivan from Ohio campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2014, during Alaskan Dan Sullivan's term as Mayor of Anchorage. Somewhat confusing? Perhaps."

The general public thinks of Santa Claus as a single person up in the Arctic somewhere. But in North Pole, Alaska there are apparently a lot of Santas milling around town. 

The Santa Claus interviewed by the Journal noted that he thinks voters are smart enough to figure out which is which, if necessary:

"Should anyone legally named Santa Claus, without any initials or third name, have run against me, I would have relied on my platform and reputation and let the voters make an informed decision."

Born as Thomas Patrick O'Connor in Washington, D.C., Santa Claus explained his background to the Journal, as well as why he changed his name, and how he differed from the other North Pole Alaska Santas:

"I legally changed my name to Santa Claus in 2005, so that I could reach U.S. Senators and State Governors, and their Chiefs of Staff and Policy Directors, about a variety of issues regarding child health, safety, and welfare.

"They tend to receive dozens of calls a day, the majority of which are handled by staffers. As I suspected, many U.S. Senators and Governors actually take my call as 'Santa Claus from North Pole, Alaska'.

"When I moved to North Pole, I discovered I was the only Santa in North Pole whose legal name was Santa Claus, and the only Santa who is a clergyman, as my namesake, Saint Nicholas, was many centuries ago. The Dutch expression for Saint Nicholas is Sinterklaas, that morphed into Santa Claus.

"And, unlike other Santas around here, I detest the 'crass, commercial, secular spectacle that Christmas has become in many places'. I have developed a perspective, often different from theirs, on a variety of subjects that have an impact on child health, safety, and welfare. Residents and voters here have no difficulty telling us apart from one another.

"As one might expect, my perspective stems from experience, education, and training. I'm a former: President of the North Pole Community Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Pro Tem of the City of North Pole, Senior Ranger at the Fairbanks North Star Borough's Chena Lake Recreation Area, Executive Committee member of the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Member of the Alaska Public Broadcasting Commission.

"So, all in all, my name hasn't been much of an issue. Yes, it helped me garner votes and enabled me to run for office without having to ask for or accept contributions, have a staff or office, participate in forums, or pay for campaign ads. I spent my time and energy expressing my views via social media, podcasts, newspapers, and broadcast news media.

"My campaign platform resembled Bernie Sanders' platform; and, I garnered some credibility of my own, having been Special Assistant to the Deputy Police Commissioner of New York City (NYPD), Chief of Safety and Security of the U.S. Virgin Islands Port Authority, and Member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Defense Executive Reserve, while I was Director of the Terrorism Research and Communication Center.

"My bachelor's and master's degrees are from New York University, where I also completed my doctoral coursework in educational communication and technology, decades ago. Along the way, I was News Director of Lake Tahoe Public TV and the Lake Tahoe News Network (NV) and Telluride Community Television (CO) and a Member of the Radio Television News Directors Association.

"Just in case you're wondering, I'm in my third term on North Pole City Council, at the conclusion of which, I'll be 80, and unlikely to run again. Instead of campaigning for office, I'll spend time continuing to advocate for open primaries, ranked choice voting, and child health, safety, and welfare. "