Dan Sullivan (U.S. senator)


Daniel Scott Sullivan is an American politician and lawyer serving as the junior United States Senator from Alaska since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Born in Fairview Park, Ohio, Sullivan earned degrees from Harvard University and Georgetown University, interning at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. After graduating in 1993, he joined the United States Marine Corps, leaving active duty in 1997. He has since served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and was recalled to active duty from 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 in private practice in Anchorage, Alaska from 2000 to 2002, then moved to Maryland to work for the Bush administration, first with the National Economic Council and National Security Council, then as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs. Sullivan then returned to Alaska, serving first as Alaska Attorney General from 2009 to 2010, then as Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources from 2010 to 2013. He resigned from office in September of that year to run in the 2014 election for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Mark Begich. In August 2014, Sullivan won the Republican primary, defeating Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell and 2010 Senate nominee Joe Miller. After a close race, Sullivan defeated Begich in the general election by 47.96% to 45.83%, a margin of 6,014 votes out of 282,400 cast.

Early life and education

Sullivan was born and raised in Fairview Park, Ohio, the son of Sandra and Thomas C. Sullivan, currently the President and CEO of RPM International, a holding company founded by his father, Frank C. Sullivan.
He attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana and graduated in 1983. In 1987, Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 1993, he earned a J.D.-M.S.F.S. joint degree from Georgetown University, graduating cum laude. He was a member of the Georgetown Law Journal and interned for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Military service

Sullivan has served in the United States Marine Corps since 1993, both on active duty and in the reserves. Sullivan, who has spent several years with a reconnaissance battalion based in Anchorage, Alaska, initially left active duty in 1997 when he first moved to Alaska, but has since been 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. He was recommended for promotion in 2011 to Lt. Colonel by then-retired General John Abizaid, a board member of the Sullivan family-based RPM International corporation since 2008.
He is currently a Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Sullivan is a recipient of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Early legal career

Sullivan served as a judicial law clerk for Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Fairbanks from 1997 to 1998. He then clerked for Chief Justice Warren Matthews of the Alaska Supreme Court in Anchorage from 1998–99.
In 2000, Sullivan joined the Anchorage office of the Perkins Coie law firm, focusing on commercial law and corporate law. He had joined the Alaska bar that same year.

Early political career

White House and State Department

In 2002, Sullivan began work in the Washington, D.C., area, where he headed the International Economics Directorate of the National Economic Council and National Security Council staffs at the White House. Sullivan advised the President of the United States – then George W. Bush – along with the National Security Advisor and NEC chairman. Sullivan left the White House in 2004.
In 2006, Sullivan was appointed by President Bush to the post of United States Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs. The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Sullivan in May of that year. Sullivan served in this capacity until January 2009. While serving as Assistant Secretary of State he owned a house in Anchorage and continued to vote in Alaska elections by absentee ballot, claiming Bethesda, Maryland as his primary residence for tax purposes.

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 to be Attorney General, but the Alaska Legislature rejected the appointment. Palin then nominated Sullivan instead. 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.
Sullivan, who had been retained by Governor Sean Parnell, stepped down as Alaska's Attorney General on December 5, 2010, to be replaced by John J. Burns, who was nominated by Parnell on November 31, 2010.

Alaska DNR Commissioner

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.

United States Senate

2014 election

On October 15, 2013, he announced that he was running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in the 2014 election. Sullivan was endorsed by the Club for Growth.
On June 10, 2014, Sullivan offered Begich the Alaska Agreement. This was a modified version of the People's Pledge. This tactic had previously been used in the Massachusetts 2012 U.S. Senate race between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown to drastically limit outside, third party spending. Begich refused the Alaska Agreement. According to Ballotpedia, outside spending in the race went on to hit nearly $40 million.
Despite a late-race endorsement of 2010 party nominee Joe Miller by Sarah Palin, Sullivan won the Republican primary on August 19, 2014, with 40% of the vote, and 32% and 25% for Miller and Treadwell respectively.
On November 12, 2014, the Associated Press and CNN declared that Sullivan defeated Begich in the general election by about 8,000 votes—48.6 to 45.4 percent. At the time of the Associated Press call, there were approximately 31,000 votes left to count and Begich refused to concede. On November 17, 2014, Begich conceded the election to Sullivan.

Tenure

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

Committee assignments

Social policy

Sullivan has not made social issues a major part of his candidacy. He opposes abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the life of the mother; he has also voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Sullivan opposed the FIRST STEP Act. The bill passed 87-12 on December 18, 2018.
Sullivan has cosponsored the bipartisan STATES Act proposed in the 115th U.S. Congress by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Colorado Senator Cory Gardner that would exempt individuals or corporations in compliance with state cannabis laws from federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act.

Foreign policy

In July 2017, Sullivan co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which 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.
event in Alaska.

Gun policy

In the 2014 Senate campaign in Alaska, the National Rifle Association declined to make an endorsement. The NRA gave Democratic nominee Mark Begich an "A-" rating and gave Sullivan an "A-q" rating, with the "q" indicating the rating was qualified because Sullivan had no voting record at the time.

Donald Trump

Sullivan opposed then presidential candidate Donald J. Trump during the 2016 presidential race, releasing a statement that said, "We need national leaders who can lead by example on this critical issue. 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 during Trump's impeachment trial.

Missile defense system

In the summer of 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed about off the coast of Japan. He also threatened the United States with an ICBM strike. Sullivan said, "In fact, for over a year, the experts have been saying it's not a matter of if, but when North Korea will develop an that could hit not only Alaska and Hawaii, but the entire continental United States." Sullivan supports improving the United States' missile defense system. The U.S. Department of Defense, as of 2017, was conducting a missile defense review targeted at strengthening the nation's defensive abilities, studying whether to place missile interceptor sites on the east coast or in the Midwest, and recommending funding priorities. The report was due to Congress at the end of 2018.

Personal life

While at Georgetown, he met fellow law student Julie Fate, the daughter of retired dentist and former Alaska State Representative Hugh "Bud" Fate. The two eventually married and have three daughters. When they met, Julie was a staffer for U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and grew up in a traditional Athabaskan family. Sullivan's mother-in-law was Mary Jane Fate, who was once the co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives. His father-in-law Hugh Fate served in the Alaska Legislature.

Electoral history