World News
US Justice Department sues to block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Senator Sullivan loses
By Staff Writer | 25 October 2026
The federal lawsuit argues that a second Dan Sullivan on the 3 November ballot may draw votes meant for the Republican senator. President Trump said he ordered it. Alaska's Supreme Court has already refused to remove the second candidate.
The US Justice Department has asked a federal court to stop Alaska certifying the result of its Senate election if the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan, loses, arguing that a second candidate with the same name may confuse voters.
The suit, filed on Thursday, asks the judge to bar certification if the senator's margin of defeat is smaller than the vote won by the other candidate, Daniel J Sullivan, a retired teacher from the fishing community of Petersburg. Polls suggest a tight race between the senator and the Democrat Mary Peltola, a former member of the House of Representatives, who holds a narrow lead before the vote on 3 November.
In that event the suit seeks a delay while an investigation establishes whether voters mixed up the names, and any steps needed to work out what would have happened without the second Sullivan on the ballot.
The case the department makes
The filing says the state will fail in its obligation to protect the integrity of its elections if it certifies results affected by Daniel J Sullivan's place on the ballot. It rests on a clause in the preamble to the National Voter Registration Act that requires states to protect the integrity of elections. The associate attorney general, Stanley E Woodward Jr, asserted that the sole purpose of the candidacy was to help Peltola by drawing votes away from the senator.
Given the substantial likelihood that the inclusion of Dan J Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters looking to cast a vote for Senator Sullivan and thus distort the will of Alaskan voters, there is a substantial likelihood that a certification of the election will reflect an electoral process that lacked integrity.
Stanley E Woodward Jr, US Associate Attorney General
Asked about the lawsuit after landing in Florida for a campaign rally on Friday, Trump said he had told the department to bring it. He has called the second candidacy a scam.
Two names on one ballot
Republicans have tried for months to remove Daniel J Sullivan from the ballot, but the Alaska Supreme Court rejected their case. On the ballot the senator appears as Dan S Sullivan, a registered Republican and the incumbent, while Daniel J Sullivan Jr carries no party label. Under Alaska's ranked-choice system, voters who are unsure could mark both.
Daniel J Sullivan has denied acting for Peltola's campaign and has said he would not even know whom to speak to there. Neither the senator nor Peltola had commented on the lawsuit when it was reported.
The suit comes into play only after polling day and only if the incumbent loses. Under the US Constitution, the running of elections is a matter for the states. On the day the suit was filed, Attorney General Todd Blanche said in Virginia that it was never the department's intention to interfere improperly with elections or with state certification.
Trump won Alaska by 14 percentage points in 2024. The race is among the most closely watched of the midterms and could help decide which party controls the Senate.