By Jan Wolfe
Oct 23 (Reuters) – The US Justice Department on Thursday sued to preemptively block Alaska from certifying the results of its US Senate race if the Republican incumbent candidate loses by a narrow margin, saying voters could be confused because two Republicans on the ballot have almost identical names.
The lawsuit highlights the apparent willingness of President Donald Trump’s administration to contest the results of the November 3 midterm elections that will decide control of the US Congress.
Trump’s administration has taken an increasingly aggressive approach to election oversight, pressing states for voter-registration data and arguing that stricter measures are needed to ensure public confidence in the vote. Critics, including both Democratic and some Republican election officials, view the moves as federal overreach.
Control of the US Senate could come down to Alaska, where incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan is running a closely contested race against Democrat Mary Peltola.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Anchorage, takes issue with the presence of a third contender in the race, another Republican named Dan J. Sullivan Jr, alleging he is running “with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him.”
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to block the certification of an outcome “that may be impacted by voter confusion,” so that there can be “an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.”
A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is taking “necessary steps to ensure that this frivolous candidacy does not undermine the integrity of Alaska’s election or the will of its voters.”
Trump told reporters on Friday that he supported the lawsuit, saying “I’m the one that said do it.”
Trump’s administration “has absolutely no authority to tell Alaska when or how to certify the results of its Senate election,” said David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that advises election officials, adding that “this issue has already been fully litigated by Alaska’s courts.”
Election law experts have panned the Justice Department’s lawsuit, calling it a publicity stunt by the Trump administration that seeks relief not allowed under federal law.
“In short, like many Department letters over the last few years, it is designed to win the press release rather than the litigation,” wrote Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller in a blog post, adding that “the legal argument is one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen.”
The unelected Sullivan, a former US Forest Service worker and elementary school teacher, filed to run as a candidate on May 29 seeking to unseat Senator Dan S. Sullivan and “put Alaska first,” according to his campaign website, which advertised “Dan Sullivan Challenges Dan Sullivan for US Senate Seat.”
Dan J. Sullivan has denied in interviews with US news outlets that his aim is to cause confusion or divert votes from Dan S. Sullivan.
The Alaska Supreme Court in June permitted the unelected Sullivan to appear on the ballot. He will appear without a party designation next to his name, while the senator will be listed as the Republican incumbent.
Polling has shown Peltola, a former US representative, tied or slightly ahead in Alaska, a state the president carried by some 14 percentage points in 2024.
In Alaska, as in much of the US, Trump’s approval rating is underwater, hit by rising diesel and gasoline prices and a conflict in the Middle East that has proven deeply unpopular with voters.
Public opinion polls suggest Republicans may lose control of one or both houses of Congress, which would likely limit Trump’s ability to enact his policies in the final two years of his presidency.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe, Daphne Psaledakis, and Ismail Shakil; editing by Susan Heavey, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)
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