Justice Department Seeks to Halt Alaska Senate Certification Over Ballot Name Confusion

The Trump administration has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that a second candidate sharing the same name could mislead voters.

Filed Thursday, the Justice Department complaint contends that the presence of Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot creates a substantial risk that voters intending to support the senator may accidentally select the other candidate, a retired teacher and former U.S. Forest Service worker.

Polls indicate a tight contest between Senator Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, with Peltola holding a narrow lead in the final stretch.

The government is asking a federal judge to prohibit the state from certifying the results if Senator Sullivan loses by a margin smaller than the vote total received by the other Sullivan.

Previous attempts to remove the second Sullivan from the ballot were rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court. President Donald Trump has labeled the candidacy a “scam” and vowed to pursue “powerful legal options” to prevent it.

Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system allows voters to rank multiple candidates, meaning they could theoretically select both Sullivans if uncertain. In court filings, Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. asserted that the second Sullivan’s sole purpose is to siphon votes from the senator and benefit Peltola’s campaign.

“Given the substantial likelihood that the inclusion of Dan J. Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters looking to cast a vote for Senator Sullivan and thus distort the will of Alaskan voters, there is a substantial likelihood that a certification of the election will reflect an electoral process that lacked integrity,” Woodward argued.

Dan J. Sullivan has denied coordinating with the Peltola campaign, telling the Petersburg Pilot he “wouldn’t even know who to speak to” in her operation. In an interview with Courthouse News, he said it is his “sincere hope that people know who and what they are voting for but ultimately, choice is good and voters’ intent will be as varied as the candidates who are running.”

The lawsuit requests that if Peltola wins by a margin suggesting possible voter confusion, certification be delayed pending an investigation into whether voters were misled by the similar names, along with any “necessary and appropriate” steps to determine the outcome had the second Sullivan been excluded.

Neither candidate has publicly commented on the lawsuit. The Alaska Senate race — in a state Trump carried by 14 percentage points in 2020 — is among the most closely watched contests of the midterm cycle, with the president’s approval ratings in the state pressured by voter concerns over inflation and foreign policy.

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