Justice Department sues to block certification of Alaska Senate race if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, citing candidate with same name

As of 11:54 a.m. ET, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses while another candidate with the same name is on the ballot, The Associated Press reported.

The complaint, United States of America v. State of Alaska, was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, Case No. 3:26-cv-00376. It names as defendants the State of Alaska; Carol Beecher, in her official capacity as director of the state's Division of Elections; the Election Boards of the State of Alaska; and the State Ballot Counting Review Board of the State of Alaska.

The suit centers on Daniel J. Sullivan, who is on the ballot alongside the senator, identified in the complaint as Dan S. Sullivan, and Democrat Mary Peltola. The AP described Daniel J. Sullivan as being from the fishing community of Petersburg. Daniel J. Sullivan has said he decided to run on his own, the AP reported.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint brings a single count under the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. §§ 20501(b)(3) and 20510(a), and is titled a "Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief."

"Daniel J. Sullivan decided to run for Senator in 2026 as a Republican with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him," the complaint alleges. "The sole purpose of his candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan."

"The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska," the complaint says.

The complaint defines the outcome it wants blocked. "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," it says.

It asks the court to declare that certifying such a result would violate the defendants' duty under the NVRA to protect the integrity of the electoral process. It also asks the court to bar the defendants from certifying such a result pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for the senator, along with any further procedures the court deems necessary to determine what the result would have been without Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot.

"For example, some supporters of Senator Sullivan likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan," the complaint says. It says other supporters may be confused about how to rank the Republican candidates. It says Peltola received 49.5% of the vote in the August primary, the senator 41.4%, Daniel J. Sullivan 2.5% and Republican Gerald Heikes 1.1%.

"Thus, there is a realistic chance that, even if a majority of Alaskans wish to vote for Senator Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan's presence on the ballot will result in a victory for Peltola," the complaint says.

The complaint is signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. and Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Bryan Wilson. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Sharon Louise Gleason, according to the court docket as listed on CourtListener.

The earlier ballot fight

The complaint attaches a June 15 letter in which Beecher de-certified Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy after complaints filed on behalf of the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party. In the letter, Beecher wrote that Division of Elections records showed he was registered to vote as "Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr." and had asked to appear on the ballot as "Dan Sullivan."

"A declaration of candidacy filed for the purpose of confusing or misleading voters and compromising the fairness of the ballot is not properly filed as required by Alaska Statute 15.25.060," Beecher wrote.

According to the complaint, a state trial court held that the division erred in excluding Daniel J. Sullivan, and the Alaska Supreme Court summarily affirmed that ruling on June 29 and said a full opinion would be issued later.

The AP reported that the Alaska Supreme Court rejected previous Republican efforts to remove him from the ballot. It reported that he will appear without a party designation next to his name, that the senator will be listed as the Republican incumbent, and that Alaska's ranked choice voting system will allow voters to select both men.

Reaction

"It is not DOJ's intention to and it's never our intention to improperly interfere with elections or the state certification process," Attorney General Blanche told reporters in Virginia earlier Thursday, according to the AP.

Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame, said, according to the AP, that the lawsuit will likely only come into play if Republicans narrowly lose the race and that it does not seem to have legal merit. "The statute simply doesn't let the Department of Justice enjoin certification," he said.

What is not known

The complaint does not say how an investigation into whether votes for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant for the senator would be carried out. According to the complaint, the Alaska Supreme Court has yet to issue its full opinion in the earlier ballot case.