The Trump administration has sued to block certification of Alaska’s November 3 Senate election if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan narrowly loses to Democrat Mary Peltola, arguing that another candidate with a nearly identical name could cost the incumbent enough votes to change the outcome.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit on October 22, 2026, in the US District Court for the District of Alaska, seeking to delay certification if votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, could have changed the winner. Federal officials want an investigation into whether voters mistakenly selected the second Sullivan while intending to support the senator.
A name dispute with a long history
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he directed the Justice Department to bring the case, placing his administration in a legal dispute over a Senate election less than two weeks before Election Day. The challenge follows months of litigation over Sullivan Jr.’s eligibility.
Alaska election officials initially disqualified him after concluding that his candidacy was intended to confuse voters, but state courts reversed that decision. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld his reinstatement, allowing him to compete against the incumbent and two other candidates.
What the lawsuit actually asks for
Federal attorneys now allege that Sullivan Jr. deliberately tried to capitalize on his similar name. According to the complaint, he sought to appear on the ballot as “Dan Sullivan,” the name commonly used by the incumbent, and pursued a candidacy that could divert Republican votes to benefit Peltola.
The request is conditional: it does not itself transfer votes or declare a winner, and it would only pause certification in a specific scenario, under Alaska’s ranked-choice system. Legal experts are sceptical of the claim, with Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller calling it “absurdly thin” and designed to win publicity rather than litigation. Peltola has described the suit as an attempt to retain power through allies in Washington, while Daniel J. Sullivan says he is running on his own initiative because he is dissatisfied with the incumbent’s record.
Alaska’s ranked-choice system adds a further layer to the dispute, because voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Under that system, a candidate with a similar name could affect not only first-choice votes but also how later preferences are counted. That complexity is part of why the Justice Department framed its request around a specific vote-count scenario, and why election-law specialists say the courts will need to weigh ballot secrecy, voter intent and the limits of federal authority over state elections.
