The Trump administration is asking a federal court to delay certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate election if voter confusion involving a similarly named candidate could have cost Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan a victory.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit Thursday, arguing that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher running against the incumbent, could mislead voters intending to support the Republican senator. The department is seeking to block certification if the incumbent loses and would have won had votes cast for the other Sullivan instead gone to him under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. The requested delay would allow an investigation into whether those voters intended to support the incumbent.
The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3, marks an unusual effort to intervene in the certification of a federal election before the results are known. “The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska,” the Justice Department wrote in its complaint.
Republicans have alleged that the challenger is a spoiler candidate intended to siphon votes from the incumbent and help Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman. Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement.
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Alaska election officials initially rejected the challenger’s candidacy, concluding it was not made in good faith. A state judge overturned that decision, and the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed, keeping him on the ballot.
The challenger has denied being part of a scheme to confuse voters. “I have every right to run for whatever office I’m qualified for, and I’m qualified for this office,” he told the Associated Press in June.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the challenger and warned that the similar names could affect the outcome. At a rally in Alaska on October 13, he described the state’s ranked-choice voting system as vulnerable to “damn bad cheating.”
Alaska’s system allows voters to rank candidates by preference. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest-performing candidate is eliminated and ballots are redistributed according to voters’ next-ranked remaining candidates. The process continues until a candidate receives a majority of active ballots.
The incumbent received approximately 41.4% of the August primary vote, while Peltola received 49.5%. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. received about 2.5%, a share that Republicans fear could prove decisive in a close general election.
“We’ll let the DOJ complaint run its course,” Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams said in a statement to Politico, adding that Alaskans could distinguish the senator from his challenger.
The lawsuit was filed the same day Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department did not intend to interfere improperly with elections or state certification.
“It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to, improperly interfere with elections or the state certification process,” Blanche told reporters Thursday, according to the Washington Post.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.
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