Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan is dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate. He made the announcement just 15 days after he filed to challenge Lisa Murkowski in the Republican Primary. In a press release, Sullivan said conservative leaders, who he did not name, asked him to run just 1 day before the filing deadline. He said there’s “significant” financial support for a conservative candidate, but he said it would be best for him to work on other political issues.
The ex-mayor’s withdrawal leaves Sen. Murkowski with three Republican challengers: Paul Kendall, Thomas Lamb and Bob Lochner. They are all running shoestring campaigns while Murkowski has raised $5.7 million.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
