Trump DOJ Sues to Block Alaska Senate Certification if Republican Loses
The Justice Department sued Alaska over two Senate candidates named Dan Sullivan, seeking to prevent certification of a Democratic win under specified conditions.
The Trump administration has sued Alaska in an effort to stop certification of the state’s U.S. Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses while another candidate with the same name remains on the ballot. The Justice Department filed the case in federal court on Thursday, October 22, 2026, less than two weeks before Election Day.
The lawsuit concerns Daniel J. Sullivan, an unaffiliated candidate from Petersburg, Alaska, who is listed alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan, Democrat Mary Peltola and other contenders. The department asks the court to prevent the state from certifying a Peltola victory under the condition that Daniel J. Sullivan stays on the ballot, according to independent reports by The Associated Press and Reuters.
What the Justice Department argues
The complaint says the federal government is acting to protect the integrity of Alaska’s 2026 Senate election. Republicans have argued that the two similar names could confuse voters and have alleged that the unaffiliated Sullivan entered the race to draw votes away from the senator. Daniel J. Sullivan has said he decided to run on his own. No evidence establishing that he is acting for Democrats was identified in the reports reviewed for this article.
The senator will appear on the ballot with a Republican designation and an incumbent label, while Daniel J. Sullivan will appear without a party designation. Alaska also uses ranked-choice voting, allowing a voter to rank both candidates if desired. Those distinctions are central to the state’s position that voters can tell the candidates apart.
State court already rejected removal effort
The Alaska Supreme Court previously rejected a Republican attempt to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot. Alaska’s Republican state officials made the decisions governing how both candidates would be identified. The new federal action does not itself remove anyone from the ballot or cancel the election; it asks a judge for relief that could affect certification after votes are cast and counted.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the namesake candidacy. At an Alaska rally and in social-media posts, he described it as cheating and said his administration was considering legal options. Those statements are political allegations, not judicial findings. Neither Sen. Sullivan’s campaign nor Daniel J. Sullivan immediately responded to AP requests for comment.
Legal authority is disputed
The Constitution gives states primary responsibility for administering elections, while Congress can set rules for federal contests. Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller told the AP that the statute cited by the department does not authorize it to stop certification and predicted the case would likely be dismissed if it remains relevant after the election. That is an outside legal assessment; the federal court has not yet ruled on the department’s claims.
Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters before the filing that the Justice Department did not intend to interfere improperly with elections or state certification except in extreme circumstances. The complaint was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. The department’s conditional request is notable because it ties federal intervention to a particular electoral outcome rather than asking for the same certification restriction regardless of which candidate wins.
Alaska’s closely watched race could help determine control of the Senate. Ranked-choice tabulation may take time, and a ballot measure will separately ask voters whether to repeal that system. The lawsuit may never control the result if Sen. Sullivan wins or if the margin makes the namesake issue immaterial. If Peltola prevails in a close contest, however, the case could become an immediate test of the federal government’s power to delay a state’s certification of a Senate winner.