Dan Sullivan sues Division of Elections; Judge agrees to fast-track his appeal

An Anchorage Superior Court judge on Tuesday agreed to expedite a lawsuit whose outcome will determine whether the namesake challenger of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan will appear on the state’s Aug. 18 primary ballot.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews, in a status hearing Tuesday, said the case was moving at a “very, very fast pace.”

“I can make every effort that I can to get a decision out as quickly as possible,” he said.

The challenger, Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg, filed an appeal to the court Monday after Carol Beecher, head of the Alaska Division of Elections and a Republican, disqualified...