Trump Orders DOJ Lawsuit to Block Alaska Senate Certification

At a rally in Florida on Friday, former President Donald Trump made a point‑blank claim: he was the one who ordered the Justice Department to file a suit that could stop Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate election results. The timing, just weeks before the November 3 vote, has set off a new round of legal fireworks.

The lawsuit, lodged late Thursday in a federal court in Anchorage, zeroes in on the oddball fact that two candidates named Dan Sullivan appear on the ballot. One is the sitting Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, who is seeking a second term. The other is Daniel J. Sullivan, a little‑known fisherman from Petersburg who entered the race on his own, but whose name some Republicans allege is a “plant” designed to siphon votes.

Republican strategists worry that the extra Sullivan could split the GOP vote in what already looks like a nail‑biter against Democrat Mary Peltola, the former Alaska‑At‑Large congresswoman. In the August non‑partisan primary, Peltola led the field, while the incumbent senator earned about 68,000 votes and the challenger gathered roughly 4,100 – a modest 2 percent, but enough to raise eyebrows.

Alaska’s unique ranked‑choice voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, does provide a safety net for confused voters. Still, the Department of Justice’s filing says the presence of a “frivolous” candidacy threatens the integrity of a federal election, and therefore the federal government has a duty to intervene.

State officials have already pushed back. Both the Alaska Supreme Court and the state’s own Republican election board rejected earlier attempts to yank Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot, allowing him to run as an independent without a party label. “We’ll let the DOJ complaint run its course,” said Nate Adams, a spokesman for Sen. Sullivan’s campaign, adding that Alaskans know the difference between a “Democratic sideshow” and a record of delivering for the state.

Democrats were quick to slam the move. Devan Barber, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, called the lawsuit “a sham” aimed at overturning the will of Alaska voters. The Justice Department, for its part, framed the action as a safeguard, invoking the National Voter Registration Act and alleging that the other Sullivan’s campaign was designed to mislead voters.

Legal scholars are skeptical that the suit will survive. Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller noted that the statute the DOJ relies on doesn’t actually give the department the power to block state certification, and any injunction would likely be short‑lived, especially if the election outcome is clear.

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking before the filing, reiterated that the DOJ has no intention of improperly interfering with elections. Yet the filing, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward – a longtime Trump ally – adds another chapter to a growing pattern of the department being used as a political tool by the administration.