The State of Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola and voting groups are asking a federal judge to throw out a Justice Department lawsuit that seeks to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.
The suit, United States v. State of Alaska, was filed late on October 22 in federal court in Alaska, after Alaskans had already begun voting. It targets a quirk of this year's ballot. Sen. Sullivan is listed as "Dan Sullivan," the Republican incumbent. A second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher from Petersburg, is listed with no party affiliation.
What the Justice Department is asking for
According to Alaska Public Media, the suit asks the court to block or delay certification if Sen. Sullivan loses to Peltola but would have won had every ballot cast for the other Sullivan been counted for him, and it calls for an investigation into voter confusion if that happens. NBC News reported that the department also wants the court to find that the senator would have won if those votes, run through Alaska's ranked choice count, had gone to him.
The only law the complaint cites is the National Voter Registration Act. The complaint calls the namesake's candidacy a sham. In a later filing, Newsweek reported, the department said polls show the race within "one or two percentage points" and argued that the namesake's presence "will result in a tainted victory for Peltola." Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward signed the suit.
President Trump has said he ordered the case. "I'm the one that said do it," he told reporters. Justice Department official Todd Blanche defended it on CNN on October 25. "President Trump is not trying to take over a state election in any way, shape or form," he said, adding, "It is an obligation of the states to avoid confusion."
What Alaska and the challengers say
The Alaska Department of Law, representing the Division of Elections and its director, Carol Beecher, urged Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss the suit "immediately," Alaska Public Media reported. The state wrote that the lawsuit "would interfere with state election administration and threaten election integrity." It argued that the National Voter Registration Act covers registration, not counting or certification, that the ballot already distinguishes the two men by party and incumbency, and that confused voters can get help under Alaska law. It also said there is no way to investigate what voters intended without breaking the secret ballot.
Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee moved to intervene and dismiss. Their filing calls the suit "an unprecedented pre-emptive strike on democratic elections," NBC News reported. The League of Women Voters of Alaska also asked to join. The department opposed the intervention requests, saying the groups would "clog up the docket with duplicative motions." Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky law professor, called the case "a press release disguised as a lawsuit."
Timeline: how the namesake got on the ballot
June 2026: Beecher removed Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot after Republicans asked, finding he meant to confuse voters, according to Alaska Public Media.
Late June 2026: A state judge found the removal unlawful, and the Alaska Supreme Court then held that he was eligible and ordered the Division of Elections to list him.
October 22: The Justice Department sued, 12 days before Election Day and months after the ballot was final.
October 26: Judge Gleason set an expedited schedule, noting in her order that "the United States initiated this action on October 22, 2026." Alaska Public Media reported that after a filing deadline moved to Friday, she could rule on the dismissal motions as early as Friday night, October 30.
November 3: Election Day.
The newsroom's math
The department's own numbers explain why it filed. By its account, the race is within one to two points, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. took 2.5% of the primary vote. If he draws anything close to that share again, his total would be larger than the margin the department describes, which is exactly the condition that triggers the relief it wants. On the department's theory, then, a narrow Peltola win would almost automatically be put on hold.
That is also the weak point the state and Peltola press. The suit asks a court to decide which candidate voters meant to pick, but a secret ballot records only whom they did pick. Blanche said the more precise demand is "to not certify if the law is broken."
Why it matters for defense lawyers and voters
The case is part of a wider federal push in the final days before the midterms. The department is separately fighting California over 20,000 ballots, as we covered in Appeals Court Tosses DOJ Bid on 20,000 California Ballots, and it has planned a record number of poll monitors, which we reported in Justice Department Plans Record 1,000 Election Monitors as States Push Back. A ruling from Judge Gleason before Election Day would tell both campaigns whether a close count in Alaska ends with certification or a federal court fight.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
