Trump team files lawsuit to block certification of Alaska Senate race if…

Voters in Alaska navigating a high-stakes Senate contest now face a federal intervention that could freeze the outcome of their election. The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit in federal court to block certification of the race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola while a second candidate with the same name remains on the ballot.

The legal action targets the state and its election division, arguing that voter confusion over the two candidates could swing the result. That federal move sets up a direct collision between Washington and state election authorities over who controls the final steps of a federal contest. The outcome of the race itself is widely viewed by both political parties as a decisive battleground for control of the U.S. Senate.

Federal Lawsuit Targets Ballot Suffixes

The Department of Justice filed the federal lawsuit on Thursday, asking the court to bar state officials from certifying a win for Peltola if the second candidate stays on the ballot. The government argues in the filing that The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska, citing federal requirements to protect election integrity. The government is asking the judge to bar the state from certifying the election results if Sen. Sullivan loses by a margin less than the other Sullivan.

That second candidate is Daniel J. Sullivan, a resident of the tiny fishing community of Petersburg. He maintains he entered the race independently. Republicans contend he is a Democratic plant designed to siphon votes away from the incumbent. The senator will be listed as the Republican incumbent, while the other Sullivan will appear without a party designation. Because Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system, voters will be permitted to select both individuals if they are unsure at the ballot box.

That reading of the ballot mechanics highlights the central anxiety for the incumbent's campaign. President Donald Trump complained about the situation during a rally in Alaska this month and in repeated social media posts, writing on Wednesday, We are looking at powerful legal options to remove the fraudulent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. from the Ballot, and holding the Democrats accountable for their Election Interference, in the pursuit of Justice and Fairness. Trump also wrote Even 1, 2, or 3% could make the difference, calling the ballot setup CHEATING.

Previous efforts by Republicans to remove the other Sullivan from the ballot were rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court, leaving state officials to determine how candidates appear. That leaves the administration attempting through the federal courts what state justices already declined to do, using the Department of Justice in a manner that voting rights advocates and Democrats warn echoes past attempts to block election certifications.

Legal Hurdles and State Authority

Legal experts immediately questioned the foundation of the administration's court filing. Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, pointed out that the legal challenge would likely only matter if Republicans narrowly lose the Alaska contest, adding that it lacks a statutory basis. The statute simply doesn't let the Department of Justice enjoin certification, he explained. Muller noted the lawsuit could well be mooted by a wide Democratic victory or a narrow Republican one, and if not, the court will likely dismiss it next month.

The U.S. Constitution grants states the power to run their own elections, though elections for federal office must comply with standards set by Congress. That division of power has repeatedly frustrated Trump, who has tried to seize control of election procedures through executive orders that courts have blocked. Attorney General Todd Blanche sought to distance the department from political interference earlier Thursday, telling journalists in Virginia that It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to, improperly interfere with elections or the state certification process, adding that such actions were improbable outside extreme circumstances. The lawsuit was signed by Associate U.S. Attorney General Stanley Woodward.

That tension between federal reassurance and aggressive legal maneuvering reveals a strategy to keep options open should the incumbent fall short. Clogging a ballot with third-party candidates to siphon off votes is a long-standing tactic in the American two-party system. Republicans have been linked to an effort to persuade Ohio voters to support a socialist in that state's Senate race, which could help Republican Sen. Jon Husted fend off a challenge from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. In Alaska, the strategy has escalated from local court battles to a federal lawsuit that challenges the very mechanics of state certification.

Campaign Stances and the Path Ahead

Polls suggest the race between Sen. Sullivan and Peltola is tight, with Peltola holding a narrow lead. Trump has routinely disparaged the state's ranked-choice voting method, encouraging voters to support a separate ballot measure in the state to repeal it. Meanwhile, neither Sen. Sullivan's campaign nor Daniel J. Sullivan immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the federal lawsuit.

The Justice Department's action marks a new escalation in pre-election litigation. With the lawsuit pending in federal court, the race heads into its final days under a cloud of federal oversight that many expect to take weeks to resolve. As voters prepare to cast ballots, the legal battle guarantees that the counting of votes will be just the opening phase of a much longer fight over the state's representation in Washington, D.C.