Justice Department Sues to Stop Alaska Certifying a Senate Win if Sullivan Loses, Citing a Second Dan Sullivan
Eleven days before the vote, the administration asked a federal court to hold up certification of a Peltola win while a same-named independent stays on the ballot. A law professor doubts it will work.
Saturday, October 24, 2026/2 min read
Alaska's Senate race now has a federal lawsuit attached to it, and the case turns on a name. The Justice Department has asked a federal court to stop Alaska from certifying a win for Democrat Mary Peltola so long as an independent candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan remains on the ballot, Alaska Public Media reported. The incumbent is Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, and the election is on 3 November.
Alaska Public Media said the complaint was filed Thursday, while CBS News described it as filed Friday. Both agree it came about 11 days before voting and long after the ballot was set.
What does the Justice Department want in the Alaska Senate lawsuit?
According to CBS, the department wants ballots preserved so officials can judge whether voters were confused. If Sen. Sullivan loses but would have won without votes cast for the other Sullivan, it would seek an investigation. The suit says the candidacy violates the National Voter Registration Act, and Alaska Public Media said it asks whether votes for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant for the senator. It was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X that the department does not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop certification. Trump said he ordered it, telling reporters: "I'm the one that said, do it." He has called the second candidacy cheating and written that his administration is weighing powerful legal options to remove the candidate.
Who is the other Dan Sullivan?
Daniel J. Sullivan is a retired teacher from Petersburg, a small fishing community, listed without a party. He received 4,107 votes, about 2 percent, in the August primary, while the incumbent had more than 68,000. Republicans contend he is a Democratic plant meant to draw votes from the senator; he says he decided to run on his own. The Alaska Supreme Court let him stay on the ballot in June, reversing a state ruling that he was ineligible.
Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, and CBS said four candidates are on the ballot: Sen. Sullivan, Peltola, Gerald Heikes and Daniel J. Sullivan. DOJ argues Republican voters might not rank the incumbent, or might rank the Republicans in a way that helps Peltola.
How have people reacted?
Peltola's campaign called it a despicable political threat to overturn an election. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the department should never have filed, since the state already distinguished the candidates on the ballot. Sen. Sullivan's campaign spokesman said the DOJ complaint should run its course and would not say whether the senator backs it.
Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor, told Alaska Public Media the statute does not let the department block certification and that the court will likely dismiss the suit next month if events do not moot it first.
What happens next?
Many observers expect the count in a ranked-choice race to take weeks, and both parties expect a tight margin in a state of about 738,000 people. If the margin is wide, the suit probably evaporates. If it is narrow, the question of who owns a disputed name could become the question of who owns a Senate seat.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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