DOJ sues to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan loses

The Trump administration is suing to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan does not win reelection — but would have won if votes for the other GOP Alaska Senate candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, were counted for the incumbent. 

The government alleges that candidate Daniel J. Sullivan deliberately sought to confuse voters by running with the same ballot name and party affiliation as incumbent senator, potentially diverting votes — and benefiting Democratic challenger former Rep. Mary Peltola.

Sen. Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan and Peltola and another Republican, Gerald Heikes, are on the general election ballot, which will be decided by ranked-choice voting. 

In their court filing Friday, the Justice Department argued that allowing Daniel J. Sullivan to be on the ballot "threatens to mislead Alaskan citizens who want to vote for Senator Sullivan" and said that some of his supporters "likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan." The department said that the senator's other supporters "likely will be confused as to how to rank the three Republican candidates as to defeat Peltola" and "might not rank Senator Sullivan at all." 

Although Alaska courts permitted Daniel J. Sullivan to remain on the ballot, the Justice Department argues that certifying an election result impacted by this confusion would violate the National Voter Registration Act.

The DOJ complaint asks the federal court to block certification if Sen. Sullivan loses, but would have won had the other Sullivan's votes been counted for him, pending an investigation into voter intent.

Alaska voted to change its election system in 2020, and first implemented ranked choice voting in 2022. Its move away from party primaries was an attempt to curtail polarization. The state has seen unusual election outcomes in the past, notably in 2010, when Sen. Lisa Murkowski won her reelection bid on a write-in campaign, after her defeat in the GOP primary.