The US administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of the US state of Alaska's Senate race if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses while another candidate with the same name is on the ballot.
Many in both parties believe the fight over Senate control could come down to Alaska, where Sullivan faces Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman.
Also on the Alaska ballot is a Daniel J. Sullivan from the tiny fishing community of Petersburg. He has said he decided to run on his own, but Republicans have contended he is a Democratic plant to siphon votes away from their candidate.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Thursday in federal court in Alaska, asking the court to block the state from certifying a Peltola win if Daniel J. remains on the ballot.
“The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska,” the lawsuit says, contending that federal law requires states to protect the integrity of federal elections.
The Alaska Supreme Court rejected a previous Republican effort to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot.
He will appear without a party designation next to his name, while the senator will be listed as the Republican incumbent.
Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system will also let voters select both men if they're confused.
Election certification process
Democrats have long feared that the administration will try to block certification of elections that GOP loses.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said that was unlikely outside of extreme circumstances. “It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to, improperly interfere with elections or the state certification process,” he told reporters in Virginia before the lawsuit was filed.
Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the lawsuit would likely only kick in if Republicans narrowly lost the Alaska Senate race.
“The statute simply doesn’t let the Department of Justice enjoin certification,” he said. “The lawsuit could well be mooted by a wide Democratic victory or a narrow Republican one, and if not, the court will likely dismiss it next month.”
The US Constitution grants states the power to run their own elections. Elections for federal office like the Senate must comply with standards Congress sets.
Trump has complained about Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot, referencing it at a rally in Alaska this month and in repeated social media posts, including one this week in which he called it “CHEATING.”
“We are looking at powerful legal options to remove the fraudulent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. from the Ballot, and holding the Democrats accountable for their Election Interference, in the pursuit of Justice and Fairness,” the president wrote on Wednesday.
