Dan Sullivan

Daniel Scott Sullivan (born November 13, 1964) is an American politician, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran serving since 2015 as the junior United States senator from the state of Alaska. A member of the Republican Party, Sullivan served from 2010 to 2013 as commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and from 2009 to 2010 as Alaska attorney general.

Sullivan grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Culver Academies in Indiana. He studied economics at Harvard University, then earned joint foreign service and Juris Doctor degrees from Georgetown University. He was on active duty for the United States Marine Corps from 1993 to 1997, 2004 to 2006, and in 2009 and 2013.

Between 1997 and 1999, he clerked for judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Alaska Supreme Court. He worked as an attorney in private practice in Anchorage, Alaska, from 2000 to 2002. Sullivan moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Bush administration; he worked with the National Economic Council and the National Security Council and later served as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.

Sullivan was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic incumbent Mark Begich after winning the Republican primary against Mead Treadwell and Joe Miller. He was reelected in 2020 and is running for reelection in 2026.

Sullivan graduated from the Culver Military Academy in Indiana in 1983. He studied economics at Harvard University, graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude. He went to Georgetown University, where he studied at both the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center, receiving joint Juris Doctor and Master of Science in Foreign Service degrees in 1993. Sullivan was a member of the Georgetown Law Journal and earned a Juris Doctor degree with cum laude honors.

Early career Military service Sullivan commissioned into the United States Marine Corps as an Infantry Officer in 1993 after completing graduate school. He was on active duty from 1993 to 1997, when he transitioned to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a Recon Marine. He was recalled to active duty three times: from 2004 to 2006, again in early 2009, and for a six-week tour in Afghanistan in July 2013. Sullivan was a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. He received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Early legal career After leaving active duty in the Marines, Sullivan served as a law clerk to Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1997 to 1998 and to Chief Justice Warren Matthews of the Alaska Supreme Court from 1998 to 1999.

Alaska Attorney General Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg resigned in February 2009 over the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal scandal. Governor Sarah Palin nominated Wayne Anthony Ross for attorney general, but the Alaska Legislature rejected Ross. Palin nominated Sullivan. He was sworn into office in June 2009, while the Alaska Legislature was out of session. The Alaska Legislature unanimously confirmed Sullivan's appointment on April 9, 2010.

Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources On November 18, 2010, shortly after being elected, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell appointed Sullivan as Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, replacing former Commissioner Thomas E. Irwin. In 2013, during his term in office, Sullivan was deployed to Afghanistan for six weeks, in his role as the executive officer of the 4th Marine Division's Anti-Terrorism Battalion.

U.S. Senate

Elections

2014

On October 15, 2013, Sullivan announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in the 2014 election. He was endorsed by the Club for Growth. Begich had narrowly defeated longtime incumbent Ted Stevens in the previous election. Stevens had filed for the election in 2009 and was widely expected to win, but died in a plane crash on August 9, 2010. This left the race for the Republican nomination wide open.

On June 10, 2014, Sullivan offered Begich the Alaska Agreement.

Despite former Governor Sarah Palin's late-race endorsement of 2010 party nominee Joe Miller, Sullivan won the August 19 Republican primary with 40% of the vote to Miller's 32% and Treadwell's 25%.

On November 12, 2014, the Associated Press declared that Sullivan had defeated Begich in the general election by about 8,000 votes—48.6% to 45.4%. At the time, there were approximately 31,000 votes left to count and Begich refused to concede. Begich eventually conceded on November 17. Final results showed that Sullivan won by 6,014 votes out of 282,400 cast, 47.96% to 45.83%. Gross touted his "deep roots" in the state and published several campaign videos that received national attention. In addition to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's funding of Gross's candidacy, Gross reportedly did "an excellent job fundraising", outraising Sullivan between July 1 and the end of September 2019.

While the race was considered "too early to call" for several days after the November 3 election, Gross called Sullivan to concede on November 13. Ultimately, Sullivan defeated Gross 54% to 41%, with Alaskan Independence Party nominee John Howe receiving nearly 5% of the vote.

2026

Sullivan is running for reelection in 2026. In the general election, he faces Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and independent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The election will be conducted using instant-runoff voting.

Tenure Sullivan was sworn into office on January 6, 2015, by Vice President Joe Biden.

119th United States Congress committee assignments Source:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Senators Joni Ernst, Dan Sullivan, John McCain, Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham, and Cory Gardner attending the 2016 International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia Security Summit in Singapore. Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support (chairman) Subcommittee on Seapower Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Environment and Public Works Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Caucuses Senate Republican Conference Senate Taiwan Caucus

Political positions

Donald Trump Sullivan opposed Donald Trump during the 2016 United States presidential election, releasing a statement that said, "We need national leaders who can lead by example" on issues of sexual assault and violence against women. Sullivan added, "The reprehensible revelations about Donald Trump have shown that he can't. Therefore, I am withdrawing my support for his candidacy."

Sullivan voted to acquit Trump in his first impeachment trial. During Sullivan's reelection bid, Trump endorsed him, saying Sullivan supported Trump's agenda.

On October 5, 2020, Sullivan announced that he would vote for Trump, saying the choice was "very clear". Sullivan also voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial.

On May 28, 2021, Sullivan voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Sullivan criticized the federal classified documents case against Trump in 2023. In 2024, he said the verdict in the prosecution of Donald Trump in New York "sets a dangerous precedent and pushes our great nation even further into banana republic territory."

In his 2025 annual address to the Alaska Legislature, Sullivan endorsed many policies of the second Trump administration, including DOGE's proposed spending cuts. Of DOGE's impact on the employment of federal workers, he said: "These are difficult decisions. Job losses are always difficult on the family, in communities, especially in tight-knit states like ours. There has been a successful historical precedent. President Clinton launched the National Partnership for Reinventing Government during his first year in office. Its goal was to dramatically shrink the government and make it more efficient, which he did during his presidency. That initiative saved over $108 billion, and it eliminated over 426,000 federal jobs." Sullivan voted for the Rescissions Act of 2025 that Trump requested congressional approval of. The Act defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supported public radio and television stations. It also cut foreign aid.

In a June 2026 vote-a-rama, Sullivan voted with Senate Democrats and two other Senate Republicans for an amendment to ban the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The amendment did not pass.

Environment Sullivan with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in Anchorage in June 2025. Sullivan rejects that there is a scientific consensus on climate change. Sullivan's amendment was not included in the legislation's final version.

Foreign policy Sullivan with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on October 22, 2023. In July 2017, Sullivan co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which would have made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.

On June 6, 2021, Sullivan and Senators Tammy Duckworth and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.

In November 2023, Sullivan introduced an amendment blocking Russian seafood processed in China from being used in federal school lunch programs. The amendment passed the Senate.

In March 2025, during the 2025–2026 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico, Sullivan said the federal government might suspend a rule (in the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886) so that Alaskan cruises could bypass Canadian ports: "Canada, you don't want to mess with Alaska. If you do, we're going to work hard on having our cruise ships bypass your ports, and that'll help our economy tremendously, it'll help our tourism industry tremendously, and it'll really hurt their tourism." In April 2025, Sullivan voted in support of Trump's tariffs on Canada.

Sullivan has supported the Trump administration in the 2026 Iran war. Sullivan's stated rationale for the war is that Iran has been hostile to the US for decades and should be prevented from having nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. He voted against war powers resolutions that were intended to limit the war unless congressional consent was obtained.

Judiciary In 2016, Sullivan defended the Republican refusal to hold a hearing for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, on the basis that the nomination was made "in the midst of an important national election." Sullivan said it was not "about the individual, it's about the principle" and "Alaskans deserve to have a voice in that direction through their vote, and we will ensure that they have one."

In 2017, Sullivan voted to confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. In 2018, he voted to confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In 2022, he voted not to confirm President Biden's Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

National security

In 2017, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened the United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike and conducted an ICBM test in which its missile landed about off the coast of Japan, Sullivan called for improvements to the U.S. missile defense system.

In December 2020, during his lame-duck period, Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. In 2014, his abortion policy was that "abortion should be illegal except when necessary to save the life of the mother, or when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest." In 2017, Sullivan supported defunding Planned Parenthood, according to his spokesman. He supported the 2022 Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade. In 2025, he co-signed a letter from Senate Republicans to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The letter asked the HHS and FDA to reevaluate generic mifepristone (used in medication abortion) and to reinstate a requirement that it be prescribed in person.

In 2014, Sullivan supported "a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage".

Sullivan introduced the bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation, the FIRST STEP Act, but opposed the act after it was amended by the House of Representatives. The amended bill passed the Senate 87–12 on December 18, 2018. Trump signed the bill into law three days later.

Sullivan cosponsored Senator Tim Scott's JUSTICE Act, which Scott said would provide "long-term solutions focused on police reform, accountability and transparency, while also promoting efforts to find solutions to systemic issues affecting people of color such as education and health disparities."

Sullivan has cosponsored the bipartisan STATES Act proposed in the 115th U.S. Congress by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Gardner that would exempt individuals or corporations in compliance with state cannabis laws from federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act.

Personal life While at Georgetown, Sullivan met fellow law student Julie Fate, a staffer for U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. Sullivan and Fate married and had three daughters. Fate is the daughter of retired dentist and former Alaska State Representative Hugh "Bud" Fate and Mary Jane Fate, who was once the co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives.

Electoral history