Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan scores slot on Republican National Convention stage

WASHINGTON — Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has nabbed a speaking slot at this year's Republican National Convention.

Sullivan will take the dais Tuesday evening with nine of his freshman Republican Senate colleagues in a bid to recount the party's 2014 wins that allowed Republicans to capture the Senate majority, which they hope to retain this year, according to the senator's office.

Sullivan will deliver a speech onstage.

Nationally, viewers are sure to eye Sullivan in comparison to the state's most famous politician, Gov. Sarah Palin, who captured the country's attention in 2008 when she was named Sen. John McCain's vice presidential pick and spoke at that year's convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

[GOP convention aims to make Trump 'likable,' heal wounds]

Over the last year, Palin has appeared numerous times on the campaign trail, stumping for Trump. But she was conspicuously left off a preliminary list of speakers released by convention planners earlier this week — as was Sullivan. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said she had been asked, but suggested this year's venue in Cleveland would be too far for Palin to travel from Alaska.

Sullivan worked for Palin, briefly, as state attorney general in 2009, before she resigned. He remained under Gov. Sean Parnell, who followed.

People magazine already drew upon the Palin connection last week in an article floating Sullivan's name as a potential vice presidential pick. (The story was considered to be fairly far off-base.)

[People magazine floats Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan's name as a VP pick]

A convention speaking spot is considered a major introduction to mainstream viewers and Republicans nationally. A 2004 Democratic convention speech is credited with introducing President Barack Obama to the national politics.

Sullivan's luck comes at a convention expected to be one of the more contentious party events in decades, as the GOP scrambles to regain its balance in the wake of a vicious primary battle and hands the reins to unconventional nominee Donald Trump.

Many prominent Republican lawmakers are opting to skip the event, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who plans to campaign at home in advance of her August primary.

[Alaska's too far? What Trump said about Palin not speaking at GOP convention]

Murkowski became chairman of the Senate energy committee when Republicans gained the majority in 2014 by flipping nine Democratic Senate seats. Retaining the Senate will be difficult for Republicans this year, with 24 GOP-held Senate seats up for re-election, compared to only 10 Democratic-held seats.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties opted to move the conventions up a month from the typical end-of-August affair because of campaign finance laws that require a split between fundraising accounts before and after the convention, which has caused candidates to run low on funds in August. The last July GOP convention was in 1980.

This convention will be a return home for Sullivan, in some ways. He was born in Fairview Park, Ohio, just 15 miles west of Cleveland. He left Ohio to attend Harvard University and later law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sullivan landed in Alaska during his time in the Marines, and moved to the state in 1997 when he left active duty. He served as a law clerk for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Fairbanks, and later for the Alaska Supreme Court in Anchorage.

Sullivan worked in private practice in Anchorage before moving to Maryland to take on high-level economic and national security positions under President George W. Bush. Sullivan returned to Alaska and served as the state's chief attorney and Department of Natural Resources commissioner.

He vied for incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich seat in 2014 and won.

In an interview last week after meeting presumed-nominee Donald Trump, along with some Republican Senate colleagues, Sullivan said he scored a few minutes with Trump and advocated for the candidate to take an Alaska perspective on energy, environment and regulatory issues.

Sullivan is most likely to speak about his views on federal regulatory overreach and the economy, and perhaps the military — issues on which he keeps a dogged focus in the Senate. The economy will be the focus of Tuesday night's speeches, according to a report by The New York Times.

Sullivan, who takes a militaristic approach to staying "on message," often makes floor speeches about the rate of growth of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, which he says shows a stagnant economy. He is sure to point to bureaucratic red tape and regulatory overreach as barriers to increased growth and fixing the nation's crumbling infrastructure.

Sullivan took that message for a national test-run in May, when he was tasked with delivering the GOP's weekly address.

[Sullivan blames Obama for slow economic growth in Republican address]