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Trump DOJ Sues to Block Alaska Senate Certification if GOP Loses Over Ballot Confusion

 By Randy DeSoto  October 23, 2026 at 1:53pm

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Alaska to block state officials from certifying the results of the U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses next month.

The complaint argues that the presence on the ballot of another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan is a purposeful attempt to mislead voters and thwart the will of the electorate.

"Given the substantial likelihood that the inclusion of Daniel J. Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters looking to cast a vote for Senator Sullivan, and thus distort the will of Alaskan voters, there is a substantial likelihood that a certification of the election will reflect an electoral process that lacked integrity," DOJ wrote.

“The United States has a substantial and legally cognizable interest in maintaining the integrity of elections,” the complaint states. “The United States likewise suffers an injury when the certification of the election for a federal office is tainted by a frivolous candidacy because that undermines confidence in the make-up and workings of the federal government.”

Alaska has rank-choice voting, which permits the top four vote-getters in the primary to advance to the general election. If no candidate receives an outright majority in the general election, voters’ second-choice selections are factored in until someone reaches over 50 percent of the tally.

It is a process anticipated to take weeks, CNN reported.

Do you believe voter confusion is a significant threat to election integrity?

Alaska’s Division of Elections removed Daniel J. Sullivan from the primary ballot in June, determining his was not an “actual good-faith candidacy, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead, thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”

However, Alaska’s Supreme Court overruled the agency, determining he could appear as a Republican candidate. Daniel J. Sullivan had never previously run for office, and it’s not clear he was ever associated with the Republican Party.

The DOJ’s Thursday complaint reads, “it is vital that Defendants [the state of Alaska] not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion. An election result may be impacted by voter confusion if: (1) Senator Sullivan does not win the election; and (2) had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan been cast instead for Senator Sullivan and Alaska's rank-choice process played out accordingly, Senator Sullivan would have won the election.”

The ballot lists Sen. Dan Sullivan as the incumbent to prevent confusion, so likely most of those seeking to make him their first choice will do so, but even a small bleed-off of votes could prevent him from receiving the majority needed before rank-choice voting kicks in.

Sen. Sullivan is in a tight re-election race with former Democrat U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who is up by approximately 1 percent, according to Real Clear Polling. But as CNN data expert Harry Enten recently noted, Republicans tend to underpoll by about 3.5 percent.

Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social, “I am very concerned about the Dan S. Sullivan Race for the U.S. Senate in Alaska in that it is totally confusing, with the Dumocrats putting up another man, totally unrelated to Politics, named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr. It's ridiculous that the Court didn't stop this SCAM. Even 1, 2, or 3% could make the difference.”

“Dan S. Sullivan is leading by a lot, but this is CHEATING in an Election, and the Judge that allowed this to happen should be ashamed of himself. 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 also addressed the issue at a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, earlier this week, with Sen. Sullivan.

Trump pointed out during the primary that Daniel J. Sullivan received about 2.5 percent of the vote.

CNN reported that the DOJ’s case has been assigned to federal district court Judge Sharon L. Gleason, a Barack Obama appointee.

Fox News and Cook Political Report list Alaska as one of six or seven toss-up races that will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.

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