Politics

People magazine floats Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan's name as Trump VP pick

Alaska's freshman Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, joined the growing list of potential vice presidential picks for presumed GOP nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday, though from an unusual source.

An article posted online by People magazine Wednesday said Sullivan's name was the "latest to bubble up among People's GOP sources monitoring the Trump 'veepstakes,'" but it didn't clarify further.

Sullivan has not met Trump and "is focused on representing the great state of Alaska," said his spokesman Mike Anderson. Sullivan planned to join some Republican senators in a meeting with Trump in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Anderson said People did not reach out to the senator's office for comment.

Trump's campaign did not respond to an ADN request for comment.

[Trump lashes out at GOP senators in meeting aimed at seeking unity]

The article comes less than two weeks before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where for now it appears Trump will be anointed as the party's presidential candidate.

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Speculation has been rampant about whom Trump will pick as a running mate. He has told some outlets he would prefer someone with more political experience than he has, to help him navigate negotiations with the House and Senate.

People appears to be the lone voice of a Sullivan-as-veep rumor, for now.

Former congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich has emerged as a front-runner and campaigned with Trump this week.

But the prospects appear to be thinning on Capitol Hill. This week Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said they aren't interested in the position, despite participating in early vetting by Trump's campaign.

Ernst, like Sullivan, is a conservative freshman senator, decades younger than 70-year-old Trump, and has a long record of military experience before being elected in 2014. Both serve on the Armed Services Committee. Technically, Ernst outranks Sullivan, who still ranks last in the 100-member Senate — until a new class of senators takes the oath in January 2017.

Erica Martinson

Erica Martinson is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News based in Washington, D.C.

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