Judge tosses DOJ suit to delay Alaska Senate certification

As of 8:11 a.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026

A federal judge on Sunday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, and the department quickly appealed, two days before the election.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason granted motions to dismiss filed by the state, by Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and by a group including the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause, the court docket shows. She dismissed the department's amended complaint without prejudice. The United States filed a notice of appeal the same day, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opened the case as No. 26-7304.

What the lawsuit sought

The department sued on Oct. 22. It asked for an investigation into whether votes for Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg who shares the senator's name, were meant for the incumbent, The Associated Press reported. The suit asked the court to have ballots cast for Dan J. Sullivan set aside for a possible investigation, according to the Anchorage Daily News. President Donald Trump pushed for the lawsuit out of concern the second Sullivan would draw votes from the senator, the AP reported.

Sen. Sullivan faces Peltola, a former congresswoman, in Tuesday's ranked-choice election. The race is among a handful expected to decide control of the Senate.

What the judge said

Gleason ruled that the department lacked legal standing to bring the case, the Anchorage Daily News reported. She called the relief it sought "infeasible" because many voters had already cast ballots, the AP reported.

"More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy," she wrote, according to the AP.

"The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is telling," the ruling said, according to the Daily News. Gleason also wrote that court-ordered changes this late would likely confuse voters, and that blocking certification ran counter to the Constitution's grant of election authority to the states.

The Justice Department's position

"Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes," a department spokesperson said in announcing the appeal.

The department said the court dismissed the case "on procedural grounds" but did not dispute its argument that Dan J. Sullivan entered the race "as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters," the AP reported. Michael J. Heyman, the U.S. attorney for Alaska, said Friday that the suit "seeks to protect ballots, nothing more for the moment, just protect the status quo," according to the Daily News.

Dan J. Sullivan has said he had no contact with Peltola's campaign about running. He has not responded to messages in recent days, the AP reported. The state's elections director had concluded that he was running to confuse or mislead voters, which he has repeatedly denied, and state courts kept him on the ballot.

The other side

State attorneys called the lawsuit "meritless" and said setting aside the ballots was "not even possible," arguing it could not be done without violating voter privacy.

"No sham investigation or baseless lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from electing Mary on Nov. 3," Peltola's campaign said. DSCC Executive Director Devan Barber called the ruling "a victory for democracy." Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, which filed a brief supporting dismissal, called the department's case "a baseless, eleventh-hour attempt to hijack this midterm election."

Peltola's campaign has said it had no involvement in the campaigns for either Sullivan. "I am not interested in tricking voters," she said at a recent event, according to the AP. The New York Times reported last week that her campaign staff and the DSCC had allegedly helped recruit Dan J. Sullivan; the campaign has denied any such effort, the Daily News reported.

What the senator said

Before the ruling, Sen. Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that he expected "to lose a lot of votes to that trickery" and said Peltola was "still lying" about what she knew, the AP reported. He also said, "I will accept the election results," regardless of who wins, the Daily News reported.

What comes next

The 9th Circuit's initial schedule sets the department's opening brief for Dec. 14 and the response for Jan. 11, 2027, its docket shows. The docket did not show a request to speed up the appeal as of early Monday.

A separate federal criminal investigation into how Dan J. Sullivan got on the ballot is continuing. No charges have been announced. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has ordered a state investigation. "If we conclude there were things ... that are illegal, we will act on that," he told NewsNation, according to the Daily News. He has not said whether the election would be certified if Peltola wins while the investigation continues, the Daily News reported.