Justice Department Sues Alaska to Block Senate Ballot Certification

The Trump administration sued Alaska last week to halt certification of its Senate results while officials investigate whether voters were confused by a candidate sharing Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan's name. The lawsuit seeks to delay certification of a potential victory by Democrat Mary Peltola, a former state representative and the state's only House member, until authorities determine voter confusion. The state's final ballot lists four candidates for the seat, including two who have run minimal campaigns.

The Justice Department issued subpoenas in a criminal investigation after The New York Times reported internal campaign texts and communications showed Peltola's campaign recruited the second Sullivan. The reporting detailed an effort beginning in 2025 to place another Dan Sullivan on the ballot, involving a Democratic strategist from outside Alaska paid by a political organization backing Peltola. Peltola announced her Senate run in January 2026. Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have each denied involvement.

The president called for Peltola's prosecution. The Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday that it is "following the facts and the law, not anyone's political timetable." The department has historically avoided overt investigative actions within 60 days of an election. Recent weeks have brought activity in politically sensitive matters, including a search of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's home.

The practice of placing candidates with identical names on a ballot dates to 1946, when a four-term Boston city councilman named Joe Russo faced a 27-year-old janitor with the same name in a Democratic primary for a congressional seat. Supporters of a third candidate recruited the younger Russo; that candidate, John F. Kennedy, won the race. In Florida in 2020, a Democratic state senator named Jose Javier Rodriguez lost his seat after an independent candidate named Alex Rodriguez drew 6,382 votes. The Democrat lost to his Republican challenger by 32 votes. Republican former state senator Frank Artiles was later convicted of illegal campaign contributions and falsifying a candidate form for his role in organizing the second Rodriguez's run. Artiles received a 60-day jail sentence.

Jason Torchinsky, a Republican campaign finance attorney and former Justice Department official, said the reporting pointed to possible crimes involving financing the operation to run the second Sullivan. He said Alaska's ranked-choice voting system is particularly prone to manipulation because a $100 filing fee places a candidate on a primary ballot, and the top four advance to November, where voters rank three. Torchinsky called the case "Exhibit A for how ranked-choice voting systems can be manipulated by various actors." In traditional systems, candidates must secure a party nomination, gathering sometimes tens of thousands of voter signatures.

Defenders of Alaska's system note voters can rank both Sullivans and exclude Peltola, which Sullivan's campaign is urging. Republicans have supported a ballot measure this election to repeal the system. In states with traditional voting methods, a third-party vote removes one from a Democrat or Republican. Many Republicans this year worry about Libertarian candidates drawing votes from their Senate candidates, and the party often supports Green Party candidates seeking ballot access.

Trump's own political operation has used the tactic this cycle. A group tied to his operation is urging Ohio voters to support a socialist candidate to pull votes from the Democrat challenging the state's Republican incumbent. In Nevada, a political operation with Republican ties is boosting an independent gubernatorial candidate named Danielle Ford, sharing a last name with the Democratic candidate challenging the GOP governor. Trump's allies tried to recruit Kanye West onto the 2020 presidential ballot.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said he expects a judge will very soon reject the Justice Department's "frivolous" lawsuit seeking to stop certification if Sen. Sullivan does not win. Justin Levitt, a Justice Department official during the Biden administration and a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said the investigation appeared unlikely to yield charges. "It may be distasteful, but it happens all the time," Levitt said. "There is no behavior that has been disclosed that is in violation of federal law." In Peltola's 2024 House reelection bid, Republicans supported keeping a New York inmate registered as a Democrat on the Alaska ballot; Peltola lost that race.