“I'm the one that said 'do it,'” President Donald Trump told reporters, confirming his role in launching an extraordinary federal lawsuit that seeks to block Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate election if incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses the contest.
The Department of Justice filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Alaska, arguing that voter confusion driven by the presence of a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot could hand the seat to Democratic nominee Mary Peltola.
The Cook Political Report rates the contest as a toss-up, while polling averages put Peltola leading the incumbent Republican by roughly two percentage points.
Ballot Confusion and Ranked-Choice Dynamics
The lawsuit contends that Daniel J. Sullivan is running as a Republican despite being “a known longtime supporter of Democratic candidates.” The filing states that some supporters of Senator Sullivan will inadvertently vote for his namesake under Alaska's ranked-choice voting system.
Election law experts have sharply criticized the administration’s legal strategy. Notre Dame Law School election law expert Derek Muller called the Justice Department’s argument “one of the worst ones I've ever seen,” writing on an election law blog that the move “is designed to win the press release rather than the litigation.”
The state's Division of Elections initially concluded that Daniel J. Sullivan couldn’t appear on the ballot. However, after the challenger appealed, the Alaska Supreme Court summarily approved keeping him on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Peltola and Sullivan Campaigns React to Legal Action
Reactions from local and national political camps were swift.
Meanwhile, Nate Adams, campaign spokesman for Senator Sullivan, adopted a measured stance, telling CNBC, “We’ll let the DOJ complaint run its course.”
The state Ballot Counting Review Board and Alaska Elections Division Director Carol Beecher are named as defendants alongside the state itself. The general election will proceed under Alaska's ranked-choice voting framework as early voting continues ahead of the November 3 matchup.
