Justice Department sues Alaska to delay Senate race certification
The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to delay certification of Alaska's Senate election result. The department wants Alaska prevented from certifying the outcome if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses by fewer votes than another candidate with the same name receives, according to Al Jazeera. Certification is the formal step in which state officials confirm the final count.
The suit was filed on October 23, 2026, as Reuters reported. Donald Trump said he ordered the lawsuit, according to the Associated Press.
The November 3 race pits Sullivan, first elected to the Senate in 2014 and re-elected in 2020, against Democrat Mary Peltola. Sullivan is seeking a third six-year term. Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2022.
The other candidate is Daniel J Sullivan Jr, a retired elementary school teacher and former U.S. Forest Service employee from Petersburg, Alaska, who is registered as a Republican. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court allowed him to stay on the ballot after election officials had initially disqualified him. On the ballot, the incumbent is listed with his Registered Republican status, while the other Sullivan appears without a party designation.
The Justice Department argues that the presence of a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot amounts to a purposeful effort to mislead voters, according to Politico. The lawsuit cites the National Voter Registration Act, a federal law governing how people register to vote. It also alleges that Daniel J. Sullivan's only aim in running is to benefit the Peltola campaign, as CNBC reported. These are allegations in the department's filing, and the lawsuit seeks to pause certification pending an investigation into voter confusion.
Alaska's August primary offers some context for the race. Peltola received 49.5 percent of the vote, compared with about 41 percent for Sullivan. Trump won Alaska by roughly 13 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
