The Justice Department has asked a federal court to stop Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot could siphon votes from the incumbent, according to CBS News and the Associated Press. President Trump said Friday that the lawsuit was his call. “Well, I’m the one that said, ‘do it,'” Trump told reporters, CBS News reported.
Alaska voters will choose among four candidates in a ranked-choice contest: Sen. Sullivan, Democrat Mary Peltola, Gerald Heikes, and a teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan, according to CBS News. The federal complaint argues the namesake’s candidacy is designed to help Peltola, with the government alleging that “the sole purpose” of his run is to “benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan,” The Guardian reported.
🚨 JUST IN OVERNIGHT: Sen. Lisa Murkowski RAGES at the Trump DOJ for suing Alaska to block certification over the two Dan Sullivans ballot scheme by Democrats, claiming DOJ "should never have filed this lawsuit"
Certification is put on hold if the FAKE Dan Sullivan steals enough… pic.twitter.com/Nq5C01tAU3
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 24, 2026
What the lawsuit asks for
According to the Anchorage Daily News, the suit asks that if Sen. Sullivan loses, and would have won had the votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan gone to him instead, the Alaska Division of Elections must not certify the result “pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.”
In its filing, the Justice Department said allowing Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot “threatens to mislead Alaskan citizens who want to vote for Senator Sullivan,” and that some of the senator’s supporters “likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan,” CBS News reported. The department also argued that other supporters “might not rank Senator Sullivan at all” because of confusion over how to rank the Republican-leaning candidates, according to the same report.
A Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News the complaint was filed “to ensure that this frivolous candidacy does not undermine the integrity of Alaska’s election or the will of its voters.” The department claims the candidacy violates the National Voter Registration Act, CBS News reported.
State courts already weighed in
The fight over the second Sullivan is not new. Alaska’s Division of Elections had declared Daniel J. Sullivan ineligible, finding he filed “with a purpose to confuse or mislead,” but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled he could stay on the ballot, the Anchorage Daily News reported. CBS News reported that his lawyers argued state law gives officials no power to keep a qualified candidate off the ballot over possible confusion.
According to the Associated Press, Daniel J. Sullivan will appear on the ballot without a party designation, while the senator will be listed as the Republican incumbent, and ranked-choice voting lets confused voters select both men.
Murkowski breaks with the administration
Alaska’s other senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, criticized the lawsuit in a statement Friday. “Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot. The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit,” Murkowski said, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Voting rights experts quoted by The Guardian called the suit an “unprecedented intervention” by the federal government, filed less than two weeks before Election Day with control of the Senate at stake. Supporters of the senator see it differently: in their view, a little-known candidate sharing the incumbent’s name in a close race is exactly the kind of ballot confusion that can decide an election by a few thousand votes.
The case is pending in federal court in Alaska. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Sources
Sources cited
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-admin-sues-to-block-alaska-senate-certification-if-sen-dan-sullivan-loses/
- https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/10/23/campaigns-attorneys-weigh-in-on-trumps-doj-suit-to-block-election-results-if-sen-sullivan-loses/
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/23/trump-doj-lawsuit-alaska-senate-dan-sullivan
Sources
- Original post: Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) on X, Oct 24, 2026
Posts on X are shown as published by their authors; claims in them are attributed, not independently confirmed unless the article says so. If an embedded post does not load, these links open the originals.