Federal Judge Drops DOJ Bid to Halt Alaska Senate Certification

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that sought to block the certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses to his Democratic opponent.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason issued the order on Sunday, two days before the state's ranked-choice election. She determined that the relief requested by the United States was infeasible because many voters had already cast their ballots in early voting.

The lawsuit challenged the presence of a second candidate on the ballot, a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who shares a name with the senator. The Justice Department argued that votes cast for the retired teacher were likely intended for the incumbent and requested an investigation to verify voter intent. The state of Alaska countered that the case lacked merit and that determining intent without violating voter privacy was impossible.

Gleason wrote that the ballots had been commingled to the point where the identity of the voter for each specific ballot could no longer be determined. She stated that the government provided no workable plan to segregate ballots cast for the retired teacher and conduct a court-ordered investigation while preserving voter secrecy.

The legal battle emerged from a dispute between Sullivan and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. Peltola had insisted she did not know her top political aides were involved in recruiting the retired schoolteacher to the ballot. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, suggested the move was a coordinated effort to confuse voters.

Sullivan told CNN's State of the Union that he doubted Peltola's claim that she was unaware of her aides' actions. He said she had been caught lying and continued to deceive Alaskans. Peltola maintained that the focus on the second Sullivan was a distraction from issues such as high prices caused by the war in Iran.

The election is one of the most closely watched in the country, with the outcome potentially determining which party controls the Senate. The ballot includes two other candidates who have done little campaigning, adding to the complexity of the ranked-choice vote. Trump ordered the Justice Department to file the suit and called for Peltola to be prosecuted after reports linked her campaign to the recruiting of the decoy candidate.

Federal agents issued subpoenas in the case, and the Republican governor of Alaska has ordered an investigation into the matter. He has suggested he may not certify a victory for Peltola if the results favor her. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who heads the Republican Senate campaign group, said criminal charges might make sense if candidates colluded to confuse voters.

Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders both questioned the strategy, noting that similar name overlaps occur in many elections. Sullivan said he expected to lose votes due to the confusion but stated he would accept the results of the election. Both candidates continued campaigning in the final days, with Sullivan attending a trunk-or-treat event in Anchorage on Saturday night.

The dismissal removes the immediate federal legal barrier to certifying the election results. The state will now proceed with counting the ranked-choice ballots scheduled for Tuesday.