President Trump falsely claims victory in Alaska’s undecided U.S. Senate race, demanding votes for minor candidates go to Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
On Truth Social, Trump alleged Daniel Sullivan is leading substantially in the Alaska Senatorial Race
and insisted votes for other candidates be immediately transferred to the incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. There is no other fair solution!
he wrote.
His claim is contradicted by the vote count and Alaska’s election laws. Democrat Mary Peltola leads Sullivan by 637 votes, with 48.17% to his 47.88%, per the latest results. The state’s ranked-choice voting system, not a simple addition of votes, will decide the winner.
I think Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system largely, if not completely, obviates the problem,
Professor Mark Brown, of Capital University School of Law, told Newsweek. Sullivan Jr. will be eliminated and his votes transferred. So there is little possibility, if any, his presence and receipt of votes could change the outcome.
The race remains too close to call as tens of thousands of ballots are still being counted. Alaska will conduct its ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 18, when it’s expected to determine if any candidate has secured a majority. If not, the last-place candidate will be eliminated, and their votes will be redistributed based on voters’ second choices.
The GOP’s attempt to invalidate the result is facing legal hurdles. A federal judge dismissed the Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking to block certification if Sullivan loses, as the request to segregate ballots was impossible under the secret ballot system.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the matter, according to a law enforcement official and a second source. We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation,
Elias said.
Trump’s mathematical claim rests on adding the votes of two other candidates to Sullivan’s total.
The state allows ballots from overseas voters to be accepted up to November 18. The system is designed to limit partisan gaming, politics professors told Newsweek.
The investigation has prompted a surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska.
It was done by Schumer.
I mean, that really started with Schumer and the lawyer, Marc Elias.
And I think they should be held criminally responsible for it,
Trump said.
Trump’s administration has also tried to meddle in states’ counting processes. This request was denied by a federal judge.
The second Dan Sullivan, a retired school teacher, has 3,600 votes, while the other “slug” candidate, Gerald Heikes, has 4,846 votes.
Mike Dunleavy has discussed the impact of same-name candidate Dan J. Sullivan. We’re still in the process of bringing in votes and counting votes,
he said.
The outcome of the race could be decided by the ranked-choice tabulation. The process continues until one candidate gets a majority.
Alaska’s vast geography also complicates the timeline for counting votes.
Senator Lisa Murkowski has pushed back on the DOJ’s rationale. She went further by adding The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.
Stephen Miller has argued on X that the Sullivan-versus-Sullivan debacle reveals pure contempt for voters
and laid the blame on Democrats.
The challenger Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan, has raised about $20,000 and is $30,000 in debt. Nearly all of his contributions over $200 came from people in Petersburg. So a lot of us donated,
he said, referring to his supporters in the town.
Dems placing a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot in Alaska (a fake candidate designed to conceal who is the actual US Senator running for re-election) is one of the most egregious attacks we have seen on the integrity of American elections. It reveals pure contempt for voters.
President Trump has also speculated about the whereabouts of the challenger Sullivan. Trump said his namesake double may be in the Bahamas somewhere or on the lam.
A poll released Friday shows Peltola with a two-percentage-point lead over the senator. It shows the challenger Sullivan taking more than 4% of the vote. The outcome of the race will likely not be known until after all ballots are counted and the ranked-choice process is completed.
Earlier coverage: Mississippi, Alaska Senate races see legal battles over uncounted ballots
