Judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit over controversial Alaska Senate race
A view of a sample ballot at a polling station at Midtown Mall on October 31, 2026 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Justice Department plans to appeal after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that aimed to block the certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if the incumbent Republican candidate, Sen. Dan Sullivan, lost.
Big picture view:
U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the lawsuit Sunday, saying that the relief sought by the federal government was not feasible because many Alaska residents had already cast their ballots.
The backstory:
In its lawsuit, which was filed less than two weeks before the election and after early voting had started, the DOJ wanted an investigation into whether votes for another candidate who was also named Dan Sullivan were actually meant for the senator. The state argued that the case lacked merit and told the court that there was no way to find that out without violating voter privacy.
What they're saying:
"The United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy," Gleason wrote.
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Dig deeper:
Alaska’s voters will choose from four candidates in a ranked-choice election. The closely watched race that pits the Republican Senate against Democrat Mary Peltola is considered one of the keys to either party winning control of the upper chamber of Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term.
The other Dan Sullivan and a fourth candidate have not campaigned much in the race. The Trump administration pushed for the DOJ lawsuit out of concern that having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot could pull votes away from the Republican candidate.
Sullivan, Trump, and other Republican allies have accused the other Dan Sullivan of being a sham candidate who is only in the race to confuse voters. Last week, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign played a part in the effort to recruit the other Sullivan. In June, he denied having contact with Pelota’s campaign, and her camp has denied any involvement.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando, Florida.