Possible GOP Alaska Senate Candidate Deploys to Afghanistan

Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan is weighing whether to enter the Senate race against Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) for 2014. 

However, Sullivan is also a Marine and has been deployed to Afghanistan, where he will remain through August. That means the earliest he will make any announcement concerning an entry in the senatorial race is Labor Day.

National Journal reports that another prominent Republican, Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, has already entered the race after spending most of the first months of this year in “exploratory campaign” mode. 

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Sullivan is a favorite among “establishment Republicans,” but the GOP believes that either candidate will be “strong opponents” against Begich. 

Sullivan served as Alaska’s attorney general under Gov. Sarah Palin for a year and a half before being appointed to his current position under Gov. Sean Parnell.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.