The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to prevent Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate election results should Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lose to Democrat Mary Peltola; the suit argues a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could confuse voters. President Donald Trump stated he ordered the lawsuit, which alleges the second Sullivan’s candidacy is intended to mislead voters and benefit the Peltola campaign.
The lawsuit, filed late Thursday, contends that federal law requires states to protect the integrity of federal elections. “The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska,” the suit states. Republicans have accused the second Sullivan, a retired teacher, of being a Democratic plant to siphon votes from the incumbent. However, Daniel J. Sullivan has stated he decided to run because he was unimpressed with the incumbent senator’s leadership.
Legal experts are skeptical of the lawsuit’s chances. Notre Dame Law School professor Derek Muller called the legal claim “absurdly thin” and suggested it was “designed to win the press release rather than the litigation.” Muller further stated, “The statute simply doesn’t let the Department of Justice enjoin certification.”
The Alaska Supreme Court had previously rejected a Republican effort to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot. The lawsuit comes 11 days before the Nov. 3 election.
The Department of Justice, in a statement, noted that Alaska’s election officials, who are Republicans, had determined the second Sullivan’s campaign was an attempt to “mislead” voters. Both a state court and Alaska’s Supreme Court disagreed and kept the second Sullivan on the ballot.
This legal challenge follows a pattern of the Trump administration using the DOJ to bolster its political operations, including suing Democratic-controlled states. Democrats and voting rights advocates have expressed concerns that the administration might attempt to block the certification of elections if Trump’s party loses.
The lawsuit requests that the state be blocked from certifying a Peltola win if Daniel J. Sullivan remains on the ballot, pending an investigation into whether votes cast for him were intended for Senator Sullivan. Alaska’s ranked choice voting system is noted as complicating the process, with many expecting it to take weeks before a winner is determined.
The campaign for Senator Dan Sullivan stated, “We’ll let the DOJ complaint run its course.” Devan Barber, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, called the lawsuit a “sham lawsuit to overturn the will of Alaska voters and steal an election when he loses.”
