Dan Sullivan (R-AK)

This is the overall summary for Dan Sullivan, Senator from the State of Alaska. In brief, this is an overall summary that constitutes what would be relevant information to know about Senator Shelby before contacting or advocating his office. Senator Shelby is a newer Senator, and because of this, it is wise to know that newer Senators are still adjusting to the busy life as a new Senator. This means that his staff is often busy with Constituent work and finding the best system for themselves that meet the needs of the Senator. Things are often in flux in a newer Senator's office, but it is important to connect with these Senators early and get a working relationship established with the Senators.

## Summary

Senator Dan Sullivan currently serves as the Junior Senator for the State of Alaska, assuming the Senatorial office on January 3, 2015. Senator Sullivan practiced law privately in the State of Alaska, and in addition served in the United States Marine Corps until 1997, when he left active duty. He was recalled in the 2000's however for a period. Sullivan has extensive experience in Judicial and Executive matters, serving as a clerk for the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and then for a Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. He then worked for the White House and the State Department in the 2000's. Sullivan was then nominated by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be the State of Alaska's Attorney General in 2009. Then in November of 2010, then Alaska Governor Sean Parnell nominated him to be the head of the Department of Natural Resources of Alaska. He was there until he won the Senatorial Seat in 2014. Senator Sullivan's most recent approval rating is 61%, while 26% disapprove, and 8% have no opinion in either direction.

## Issues

Senator Sullivan is very passionate about Natural Resources, which is a common interest for delegations from the State of Alaska, as significant amounts of land in the State of Alaska is under Federal and State control, and the lands of Alaska contain significant natural resources. Dan Sullivan is also a huge proponent of 2nd Amendment rights and although the NRA withheld their endorsement during the 2014 election, he scored an 86% on the *NRA Voter Scorecard*. Sullivan is also anti-abortion, with exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and threat of life to the mother. Senator Sullivan is anti-regulation, blaming "Obama Regulations" for the lack of strong growth stemming from the recession.

## Writing and Sponsorship

Senator Dan Sullivan is very active in Sponsoring and Co-Sponsoring legislation, and as of February 13, 2017 has 35 pieces of legislation tracking on *Congress.Gov*. Highlight include being the main sponsor on S.296, a piece of legislation designed to find "structural alternatives" to the Federal Appeals court, S.56 the RED (Regulations Endanger Democracy) tape act, requiring 2 regulations be cut for every new regulation, and a co-sponsor to S.295, a piece of legislation dividing the Ninth District Court of Appeals into two separate courts.

## Trump Agenda Relations

Senator Sullivan has consistently voted in favor of the Trump Agenda, sponsoring bills containing some of the most controversial elements of the Agenda, including the aforementioned items. In addition, he has also voted in the affirmative to all of Trumps nominees. In October 2016, both of the Alaska senators, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski quit their party positions opting to not support Trump. After Trump's victory Sullivan released a statement saying “They clearly heard and gave voice to the concerns of millions of our citizens who feel the American dream is slipping away".

## Impact

Senator Dan Sullivan is a newer Senator and as such is striving to make an impact, and doing so means sponsoring, co-sponsoring, and speaking on significant amounts of legislation. He has been moderately successful at this, garnering leadership positions within the Republican Party and maintaining a high approval rating with his constituents. Senator Sullivan chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife. He also sits on the committees on Armed Services and Veteran's Affairs, a natural placement for many former members of our military establishment.

## Constituency Relations

There is very little data avaliable on constituency relations. We are currently working on a system to rate the interactions between congress-members and their constituents that can help advocacy organizations and constituents be more effective in lobbying. If you have interacted with Senator Sullivan, then please feel free to edit here and we will curate it. When enough responses have been given, we will create a seperate page for that in the brief for Senator Sullivan and summarize it here.

## Campaign Finance and Public Interest

According to *FEC.GOV* Senator Dan Sullivan currently as of the *2016 Year End Report* has $122,610 cash on hand as of 12/31/2016. During the 2015-16 campaign cycle period, more than half of the individual donations came from the State of Alaska, while other states with significant donations were Washington and Louisiana. Together, the three largest states composed a total of $199,100. PAC money has been coming from traditional sources for Republican senators early in their current term, such as Republican party-based PAC's, Wireless Carrier PAC's, Physician PAC's, and Oil Industry PAC's. During the 2014 Campaign cycle, Senator Sullivan raised almost a Million Dollars from Individual Donations inside Alaska, while raising comparable amounts (Over $500K) in Ohio, Florida, New York, Texas, and California. Other statistically significant (Over $100K) states were Illinois, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Georgia, and Nevada. The top 10 PAC's donating to Dan Sullivan's campaign were all PAC's related to fundraising arms of other Republican party members, most notably Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Joni Ernst (R-IA). Outside spending for this election came mainly from the almost $14 Million dollars put together by Senate Democrats in the form of Put Alaska First PAC which spent over $9.5 Million, and almost $4.5 Million directly from the DSCC. Outside expenditures came for Senator Sullivan as well, with the largest set coming from the Alaska's Energy/America's Values PAC ($901,951), consisting of money put together by many of Alaska's oil investors from around the country, the NEA Advocacy Fund ($727,691), and the Freedom Partners Action Fund Inc. ($628,685), which is formed mostly of Koch Brothers related money.

## Contact Points

**Washington D.C.**

702 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202)-224-3004

**Anchorage**

510 L Street
Suite 750
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: (907) 271-5915

**Fairbanks**

Federal Building
101 12th Avenue
Suite 328
Fairbanks, AK 99701
Phone: (907) 456-0261

**Juneau**

800 Glacier Ave
Suite 101
Juneau, AK 99801
Phone: (907) 586-7277

**Mat-Su Valley**

851 E. Westpoint Drive
Suite 309
Wasilla, AK 99654
Phone: (907) 357-9956

**Kenai**

805 Frontage Road
Suite 101
Kenai, AK 99611
Phone: (907) 283-4000

**Ketchikan**

1900 First Avenue
Suite 225
Ketchikan, AK 99901
Phone: (907) 225-6880