Justice Department sues over Alaska Senate race

The United States Justice Department has sued Alaska in federal court, asking a judge to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses and votes for a namesake candidate would have changed the ranked-choice result. The filing, made October 22 in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, is built around a ballot that lists the incumbent alongside Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher with no party designation. The case has become a test of how far federal courts can go in a state-run election before the votes are fully counted.

According to the complaint, the namesake candidacy "threatens to mislead" Alaskans who intend to vote for the senator. The department argues some supporters will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan, while others may be confused about how to rank the field and leave the senator off their ballots entirely. Certifying a result shaped by that confusion would violate the National Voter Registration Act, the filing says. The complaint also alleges Daniel J. Sullivan sought to appear on the ballot under the name Dan Sullivan and pursued a candidacy that could divert votes to benefit Democrat Mary Peltola, as Law Commentary reported.

President Donald Trump said October 23 that he directed the department to bring the case. Speaking to reporters in Florida, he took credit for the lawsuit days after writing on Truth Social that his administration was looking at legal options to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot. The suit itself does not seek removal: the candidate's name is already printed on ballots, and early voting began October 19.

The lawsuit does not ask the court to stop voting or declare a winner. Its request applies only if the senator loses and the votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan would have altered the outcome after ranked-choice transfers. If neither condition is met, the requested order would have no effect on certification. That conditional shape is what makes the case unusual: it asks a court to prepare an order for a result that has not happened yet.

How a namesake reached the ballot

Alaska election officials tried to keep Daniel J. Sullivan off the ballot earlier this year. Carol Beecher, director of the Division of Elections, disqualified his filing in June after concluding the candidacy was intended to confuse voters. A state court reversed that decision, and the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the reversal, leaving him on the ballot, as Alaska News reported. The federal lawsuit largely repeats the accusations Beecher made in that earlier attempt, according to the Associated Press.

Daniel J. Sullivan, who lives in Petersburg, has denied acting as a plant for Democrats. He has said he entered the contest because he was unimpressed with the incumbent's leadership, according to news reports. The ballot lists the senator as a registered Republican and the incumbent, while Daniel J. Sullivan appears without a party designation. Voters can rank each man, along with Peltola and Republican Gerald Heikes.

In the August primary, Peltola led with 49.5 percent of the vote, followed by the senator at 41.4 percent and Daniel J. Sullivan at 2.5 percent, according to figures cited in the federal filing. Those numbers help explain why the department treats the namesake vote as potentially decisive: in a close general election, a small share could matter once ranked-choice transfers are counted.

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting for the contest. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins outright, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those ballots transfer to the next ranked choice still in the race. The process repeats until a candidate holds a majority. The department argues that confusion at the ranking stage could send votes to Peltola that were meant for the senator, a claim the complaint frames as a threat to the integrity of the count.

Why legal scholars doubt the case

Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, told the Associated Press that the statute cited by the department does not allow federal officials to block certification. "The statute simply doesn't let the Department of Justice enjoin certification," Muller said. He added that the case could become moot if Peltola wins by a wide margin or the senator wins narrowly, and he predicted a court would likely dismiss it the following month.

The Alaska Department of Law said in a statement that election officials are focused on running the election and giving voters confidence their votes will count. Sam Curtis, a spokesperson for the department, said officials are reviewing the complaint and had no comment on the litigation itself. The department's position, as described by Curtis, is to keep assisting voters and avoiding confusion through the official election pamphlet and help from poll workers.

The Associated Press reported that the Justice Department has increasingly been used to bolster the president's political operation, filing lawsuits against Democratic-controlled states and targeting his opponents ahead of the election. Democrats and voting-rights advocates have long feared the administration would try to block certification of elections its party loses, the Associated Press reported.

What happens next

Alaskans vote in the general election on November 3, and the filing asks the court to act only after votes are counted. That timing means the dispute may remain unresolved until the ranked-choice count is complete. A ballot measure to repeal ranked-choice voting and open primaries is also on the November ballot, according to the Associated Press, so voters will decide the future of the system at the same time they use it.

The names remain on the ballot. The court will decide whether the department's conditions justify holding up certification, or whether, as Muller argues, the law leaves that decision to Alaska. The outcome of the count will determine whether the lawsuit ever has practical effect.