Update (12100ET): And there we have it...
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of the Senate race in Alaska if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses the election while another candidate with the same name is on the ballot.
Control over the Senate could boil down to Alaska - where Sen. Sullivan faces former congresswoman Mary Peltola (D). The incumbent Republican's chances may have been sunk, however, after another 'Daniel J. Sullivan' - a former schoolteacher from the tiny fishing community of Petersburg, ran as a Republican and got his name on the ballot. Many have suggested he's a Democrat plant to siphon votes away from the senator.
The lawsuit Thursday by Republican President Donald Trump's Department of Justice in federal court in Alaska demands that the state be blocked 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, and the state's Republican officials made the decisions about how to list him on 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 also will allow voters to select both of the men if confused. -AP
And cue a Democrat judge tossing yet another Trump legal move in the dustbin of history.
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Most incumbents worry about their opponent. Dan Sullivan has to worry about his name (remember the two Dan Sullivan thing?).
Dan Sullivan (R) the incumbent:
Dan Sullivan (R) the challenger:
At Wednesday evening, a few hours after his South Carolina rally, President Trump took to Truth Social with a fresh grievance about Alaska's US Senate race, where Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan shares the ballot with a retired Petersburg schoolteacher named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The post, in full, per the Newsweek write-up and an X mirror of Trump's posts:
"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. President DONALD J. TRUMP"
The MAGA side of X took it from there:
🔥🚨 JUST IN — President Trump just flagged a major problem in the Alaska Senate race where Democrats put up a man named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr. who has nothing to do with politics?
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) October 22, 2026
Trump called the situation totally confusing and said it is ridiculous that the Court did not… pic.twitter.com/qD2UtUUTeN
In other words, the president is promising to litigate a ballot that Alaska's courts have already ruled on, 12 days before the vote, over a candidate who couldn't crack 3%. Below we walk through who the "fraudulent" Sullivan actually is, what the courts said, and why "leading by a lot" and "1, 2, or 3% could make the difference" don't sit well in the same sentence.
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is a 69-year-old retired elementary-school teacher who has lived in Petersburg for 46 years and worked for the US Forest Service. He's not related to the senator. Here's where it gets interesting: he's a registered Republican, not a Democrat. He was a member of the Alaska Independence Party and registered as a Republican after that party dissolved late last year, per Newsweek. In June correspondence with state investigators he said he had had no contact with the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola. He has denied being a plant, saying he entered the race out of frustration with the senator.
Alaska News adds that no Division of Elections record supports the claim that Democrats put him up. So the "Dumocrat" plant is a Republican. Brave.
The Courts Already Spoke
This isn't a new fight. Per Newsweek, Alaska's Division of Elections, overseen by Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, moved in June to remove him, concluding his candidacy was intended "to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality." A judge overturned that decision, and the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in late June that he could stay on the ballot. To tell the two apart, the ballot lists the incumbent as "Sullivan, Dan S." with an incumbent tag and the challenger as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.," and leaves the challenger's party line blank.
Under Alaska's top-four primary, he finished third on Aug. 18 with 2.47% (4,107 votes), per state results, which put him on the November ranked-choice ballot. Trump had already warned voters before the primary, calling him an "imposter" and urging Alaskans to "VOTE FOR THE REAL DAN SULLIVAN."
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