The U.S. Justice Department has sued to preemptively block Alaska from certifying the results of its Senate race if the Republican incumbent loses, arguing that voters could be confused because two candidates on the ballot have nearly identical names.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Anchorage, takes aim at the presence of a third candidate in the race: Dan J. Sullivan Jr., who is also seeking the seat held by Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The department alleges the challenger is running “with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him.”
The suit asks a federal judge to block certification of an outcome “that may be impacted by voter confusion,” so that there can be “an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.”
A Justice Department spokesperson said the agency is taking “necessary steps to ensure that this frivolous candidacy does not undermine the integrity of Alaska’s election or the will of its voters.” President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he supported the lawsuit, saying “I’m the one that said do it.”
A race that could decide Senate control
Control of the U.S. Senate could come down to Alaska, where Senator Sullivan is running a closely contested race against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. representative. Polling has shown Peltola tied or slightly ahead in a state Trump carried by some 14 percentage points in 2024.
The election on November 3 will decide control of Congress, and public opinion polls suggest Republicans may lose one or both houses, which would likely limit Trump’s ability to enact his policies in the final two years of his presidency.
Alaska uses a ranked-choice system, which could reduce the impact of any confusion: a voter who wanted the incumbent could rank both Sullivans first and second, in either order, and the vote would eventually go to the incumbent if Peltola does not win a majority of first-choice votes. The senator will be listed on the ballot as the Republican incumbent, while the challenger will appear without a party designation.
Pushback from election experts
Election law experts have sharply criticized the lawsuit. David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that advises election officials, said the Trump administration “has absolutely no authority to tell Alaska when or how to certify the results of its Senate election,” adding that “this issue has already been fully litigated by Alaska’s courts.”
Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller wrote that the suit is “designed to win the press release rather than the litigation,” adding that “the legal argument is one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen.”
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that the challenger could appear on the ballot. Dan J. Sullivan, a former U.S. Forest Service worker and elementary school teacher whose campaign website advertised “Dan Sullivan Challenges Dan Sullivan for US Senate Seat,” has denied in interviews that his aim is to cause confusion or divert votes from the senator.
Sources: Reuters; CNN; The New York Times.
