Justice Department Sues to Block Alaska From Certifying Senate Race if Sen. Dan Sullivan Loses

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (TodayViralUSA) — The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to stop Alaska from certifying the result of its U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that a little-known challenger who shares his name could siphon off votes meant for the incumbent.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Alaska against the state and its Division of Elections director, Carol Beecher, targets the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a former teacher from Petersburg who is on the Nov. 3 ballot alongside the senator, Dan S. Sullivan. The incumbent faces a strong challenge from Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman.

What the government is asking for

Federal lawyers want the court to block certification if two conditions are met: the senator loses, and he would have won had every vote cast for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. gone to him instead under Alaska’s ranked-choice count. They asked U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason to bar certification of any result “that may be impacted by voter confusion” until an investigation determines whether those votes were meant for the senator, according to the complaint.

The filing, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, says the case was brought “to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska.” A department spokesperson told NBC News the challenger’s candidacy “was intended to mislead voters,” and cited the National Voter Registration Act as the basis for acting.

A candidacy Alaska already tried to stop

State election officials moved to keep the challenger off the ballot in June, concluding his filing was not a good-faith bid for office. They pointed to his request to appear as “Dan Sullivan,” a shortened form of his name he had not used before, and his switch to the Republican Party shortly before filing. Alaska’s courts overruled that decision, and the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed in June that he could run.

The general-election ballot now distinguishes the two men. The senator appears as “Dan S. Sullivan,” marked as a registered Republican and the incumbent, while the challenger is listed as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” with no party label. In the August all-party primary, Peltola took 49.5% of the vote, the senator 41.4% and the challenger 2.5%, NBC News reported.

The challenger has denied being a spoiler. “It’s a free country,” he told Courthouse News in August, saying he was running out of disappointment with the senator’s record.

Questions over the department’s role

The suit lands less than two weeks before Election Day and on the same day Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters the department had no intention of improperly interfering with state certification. Elections in the U.S. are run and certified by state and local officials, and legal experts quoted by NBC News said no federal law clearly gives the Justice Department power to delay certification.

President Donald Trump had previewed the move, calling the challenger’s candidacy a “SCAM” on Truth Social on Wednesday and saying his administration was weighing legal options. Peltola’s campaign has previously said it has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.