Justice Department sues to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan loses
The lawsuit centers on a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, whom Republicans call a spoiler planted to confuse voters.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Trump administration has asked a federal court to block Alaska from certifying the results of its U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that a second candidate with the same name could confuse voters.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit late Thursday in federal court in Alaska against the state and its Division of Elections director, Carol Beecher. It asks the court to halt certification pending an investigation into whether votes for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant for the senator, The Associated Press reported.
“The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska,” the complaint says.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he told his administration to file the suit.
Two Dan Sullivans
Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, faces Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, in a race that could help decide control of the Senate. Polls have shown Peltola tied with or slightly ahead of Sullivan in a state Trump carried by about 14 points in 2024.
Daniel J. Sullivan, a former U.S. Forest Service worker and elementary school teacher from the fishing community of Petersburg, filed to run on May 29. He registered as a Republican shortly before filing and was previously a member of the Alaska Independence Party, the Deseret News reported.
Republicans contend he is a Democratic plant meant to siphon votes from the senator. He has denied that, saying he decided to run on his own because he was disappointed in the incumbent’s performance.
State officials tried to keep the second Sullivan off the ballot, but a state court and the Alaska Supreme Court allowed him to remain. On the ballot, the senator will appear as the Republican incumbent, while Daniel J. Sullivan will be listed without a party affiliation.
What the suit asks
The lawsuit does not seek to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot. Instead, it asks the court to delay certification if the senator loses by fewer votes than the second Sullivan receives.
The administration argued that if votes for Daniel J. Sullivan had gone to the senator and Alaska’s ranked-choice process had played out, the senator would have won. It said there is “a realistic chance” his presence could tip the race.
Trump has called the second candidacy a “SCAM” on Truth Social. At a rally in Wasilla earlier this month, he said it was “cheating” to have two Dan Sullivans on the ballot.
Legal doubts
Critics called the suit an attempt to overturn the will of voters. A Democratic-aligned group in Alaska called it a “sham lawsuit.”
Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the lawsuit would likely matter only if Republicans narrowly lost and that it probably would not survive in court.
A Justice Department official said before the filing that the department has no intention of improperly interfering with elections or state certification.
The race is one of several that Republicans are defending in states Trump won comfortably. Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority heading into the Nov. 3 election. Alaska’s ranked-choice system means final results could take days or weeks to tabulate after Election Day.
Democrats and many voting rights advocates have long worried that the administration would try to block certification of elections the president’s party loses, much as Trump unsuccessfully tried to do after he lost the 2020 presidential election. The Alaska suit is the first such effort of the 2026 midterms.