US midterms 2026: Trump administration sues to block Alaska Senate election certification if Republican Dan Sullivan loses. What's happening?

The Trump administration has filed a preemptive lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's US Senate election if Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan loses a closely contested race that could help determine control of the Senate. The lawsuit marks the latest effort by the Trump Justice Department to intervene in election administration, raising questions about the limited role the Constitution assigns to the executive branch. The complaint alleges that a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could confuse voters and asks a court to potentially delay certification if the incumbent loses but would have won if ‘all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan’ had been cast instead for Senator Sullivan.

President Donald Trump took credit for the legal action. “Well, I’m the one that said ‘do it,’” Trump told reporters in Florida on Friday when asked about the lawsuit. The president has repeatedly complained about the presence of the non-incumbent Sullivan on the ballot. The battle for Senate control could hinge on Alaska, where reliable polling has been limited. Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola have been campaigning in a closely contested race.

Democrats need to gain four seats in November to win control of the Senate. Alaska is among several Republican-held states that Democrats are hoping to flip. The presence of the second Sullivan has added controversy to the contest and has already prompted litigation. Republicans have alleged that his candidacy is intended to confuse voters and act as a spoiler. Daniel J. Sullivan is a registered Republican, but state election officials listed him on the ballot without a party affiliation. The incumbent, meanwhile, is identified as ‘Registered Republican’ and ‘incumbent’.

Trump also held a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, this month, where he criticised the presence of the two candidates with similar names. “It’s just cheating,” he said of the ballot having two Dan Sullivans. “They found a guy named Dan Sullivan. They put him up to get a little confused.” Nate Adams, a spokesman for Senator Sullivan, said the incumbent would “let the DOJ complaint run its course.”

“Alaskans can tell the difference between a Democrat sideshow and Senator Sullivan’s strong record of delivering for Alaska, a record he’ll keep building on for the next six years,” Adams added. Mary Peltola's spokesperson, Harry Child, criticised the lawsuit. “This is a despicable political threat to overturn an election,” said Peltola spokesperson Harry Child. “We will fight to ensure every single eligible voter in Alaska can make their voice heard and that no bureaucrat or politician from the Lower 48 can interfere with our lawful, secure elections.”

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DOJ claims second Sullivan could divert votes

The Justice Department's lawsuit cites the preface of a federal law governing state voter registration procedures, which refers to protecting the integrity of the electoral process, as the basis for seeking judicial intervention. “The United States likewise suffers an injury when the certification of the election for a federal office is tainted by a frivolous candidacy because that undermines confidence in the make-up and workings of the federal government,” the lawsuit says. Muller said he had never seen the introduction of the federal voter registration law used in this way. “They’re just plucking from the preface and saying this gives them a free-wheeling right to enjoin operations in a state, and I just don’t think a court is going to buy that,” Muller said.

How Alaska's ranked-choice voting system works

Under Alaska's election system, the four candidates who receive the most votes in the primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election. On the general election ballot, voters can rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the additional rankings are used to determine the winner. During each round of counting, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those votes are transferred to the next-ranked candidate on each affected ballot. The process continues until a winner emerges.

The DOJ alleges that some voters intending to support the incumbent could fail to rank him or could rank Daniel J. Sullivan ahead of him. If the election proceeds to additional rounds of counting, votes for the second Sullivan could ultimately transfer to the Democratic candidate. “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 lawsuit states.

However, Alaska's ranked-choice voting system could help limit the effects of potential confusion. Voters who intend to support the incumbent can rank both candidates named Sullivan first and second, in either order. If Peltola does not secure a majority of first-choice votes, those voters' preferences could ultimately benefit the incumbent, who is expected to have considerably greater support than the other candidate named Sullivan.

In June, before the state's primary election, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Daniel J. Sullivan should remain on the ballot after the state's Division of Elections had removed him. Muller said election officials had went out of their way to reduce potential voter confusion by including the candidates' middle initials, identifying Dan S. Sullivan as the incumbent and omitting the Republican party designation from the other Daniel Sullivan. “This is friendly fire, this is suing Republicans in Alaska, I don’t know that is going to be taken well by state officials,” Muller said.

DOJ seeks to delay certification pending investigation

The Trump administration is asking the court to declare unlawful the certification of an election result impacted by voter confusion and to prevent election officials from certifying that result until an investigation determines whether voters who intended to support the incumbent had instead voted for the other Sullivan. A Justice Department spokesperson defended the legal action. “Alaska’s Division of Elections determined that Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy was intended to mislead voters and compromise the fairness of the ballot,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement.

“Therefore, the Justice Department, consistent with the National Voter Registration Act enacted by Congress, is taking the necessary steps to ensure that this frivolous candidacy does not undermine the integrity of Alaska’s election or the will of its voters.” However, because ballots would be counted together, it is unclear how investigators could determine which voters might have selected the wrong candidate, Muller said. “This is just the stuff that is just impossible to measure after the fact,” Muller said.

He also pointed to several possible outcomes that could render the lawsuit irrelevant, including a straightforward victory for the Democratic candidate without additional rounds of vote counting. If the case proceeds, Muller said, there is a high likelihood it is thrown out for legal reasons.