Sullivan SuperPAC Funded by His Ohio Family, Run by Karl Rove Associate, Goes Negative

Memorial Day 13Joe Miller sounded off today on the latest Sullivan scheme to smear his primary opponents. Sullivan has long claimed to be a uniter who would not engage in mudslinging. However, his surrogates have begun the assault.

“The latest coming from Team Sullivan should surprise no one,” said Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto. “Dan Sullivan is proving to be just another dishonest establishment politician who takes credit for other folks’ work, talks a big game, and delivers only empty promises.”

The ad features a young woman from Anchorage saying, “Joe Miller troubles me,” a clear attempt to build on Lisa Murkowski’s smear campaign from 2010. It then proceeds to accuse a second establishment candidate in the race, Mead Treadwell, of “attacking Dan Sullivan.”

The Sullivan SuperPAC, Alaska’s Energy, America’s Values, is largely funded by Sullivan’s own family from Ohio, and run by Art Hackney, a longtime associate of Karl Rove. While the latest FEC report is not yet posted, information currently available reveals that almost half of its funding comes from just two individuals: Tom and Frank Sullivan. Frank, Dan’s brother, sits on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a pro-amnesty, anti-tea party organization). Sullivan money combined with funds from another large donor from Connecticut named Donald Miller comprises more than eighty percent of the funding for this faux “local PAC,” as it is described by local blogger Amanda Coyne.

Joe Miller stated, “This is just business as usual for the Republican establishment. This is what they do. If they can’t stand on issues and arguments, they seek to smear the competition. Alaskans deserve an honest debate about the issues facing our great state, and the country, not more sleazy smear campaigns from the likes of Karl Rove and his friends.”