Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the Justice Department is trying to "put guardrails in place" as it moves to keep Alaska's Senate election from being certified if evidence shows voters were confused by a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
"This is the Department of Justice doing our own research under the law," Blanche said. The department filed a lawsuit last week to preemptively challenge certification of the race if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. Sullivan faces Democrat Mary Peltola in the election next week, a contest that has looked tighter than first expected in a state President Trump won by double digits in 2024.
The race is complicated by Alaska's top-four primary and ranked-choice voting system, and by the presence of Daniel J. Sullivan, a former teacher who shares the senator's first and last name. He announced his candidacy in June, and the incumbent pushed to have him removed. An Alaska election official that month found him ineligible, citing a "determined effort and a deliberate attempt" to confuse voters. He appealed, and the state Supreme Court affirmed that he could appear on the ballot.
Blanche stressed that the lawsuit is "not saying, 'don't certify.'" He said the department's position is that if a court determined the race was decided "because of confusion, and not the will of the voters," the state should not certify it. He suggested the confusion could be evident in the results, though he conceded that "we don't know what's going to happen yet."
He said it might show in how voters rank the two Sullivans, or in ballots that omit a Dan Sullivan entirely. "All we are doing is trying to put guardrails in place so that if that happens, there's a system allowed where the ballots are kept in a way so that we can determine whether there was confusion," Blanche said.
Asked why the suit came 11 days before Election Day, Blanche said the administration had hoped the state Supreme Court would issue an opinion explaining its reasoning. He said the president has raised the issue for months and that it "isn't something new that just came up last week." Mr. Trump told reporters Friday, "Well, I'm the one that said, 'do it.'" Blanche said he had "no idea" to whom the president was referring and declined to discuss his personal communications with Mr. Trump.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said Sunday it is appropriate "to take a look at" the situation. He said he did not mind looking at it, but added, "I do mind the appearance of filing a lawsuit before we even know if the facts that would substantiate a lawsuit actually occur." He also noted that "there are very few people that know Alaska better than Lisa."
That was a reference to Alaska's other senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, who opposed the move on Friday. "Alaskans don't need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year's ballot," she wrote on X. "The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit." The sitting senator's name will appear on the ballot as "(Registered Republican) Incumbent."
The Peltola campaign called the department's action "a despicable political threat to overturn an election." Spokesperson Harry Child said the campaign would fight to ensure every eligible Alaska voter can be heard and that no "bureaucrat or politician from the Lower 48" can interfere with the state's elections.
