A federal judge in Alaska has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration seeking to challenge the results of a U.S. Senate race in the state. The lawsuit, filed last month by the Justice Department at President Donald Trump’s direction, aimed to block certification of the election results if Senator Dan S. Sullivan lost but would have won had votes cast for another candidate with a similar name been credited to him.
The race involved two candidates named Daniel Sullivan—incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher without party affiliation. The administration alleged that Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy was intended to confuse voters and siphon votes away from the incumbent. It also requested a court-ordered investigation into whether voters who selected the retired teacher actually intended to vote for the senator, and sought to have ballots for Daniel J. Sullivan segregated and preserved.
Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason rejected the suit in a ruling issued Sunday, stating that the government failed to explain how its proposed remedies would protect ballot secrecy, a fundamental principle of American elections. “The federal government offers no rebuttal to the concerns regarding preservation of the secrecy of voting and provides no explanation of how its request for ballot segregation and a court-ordered investigation by law enforcement officers into certain voters’ intent could be implemented while preserving the secrecy of the ballot,” Judge Gleason wrote.
The lawsuit claims that Daniel J. Sullivan tried to “dupe Alaska’s voters into believing that he is Senator Sullivan,” highlighting that the retired teacher switched his party affiliation from Independent to Republican only when registering to run. The complaint also pointed to similarities in the candidates’ campaign websites. A New York Times investigation found that a Democratic operative linked to incumbent Senator Mark Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee encouraged Daniel J. Sullivan to run as part of a broader strategy to divide Republican votes.
Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has ordered a criminal investigation into the Peltola campaign amid these allegations, while state election officials defended the integrity of the ballot. The state pointed out that the Alaska Supreme Court had already ruled in favor of keeping Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot and that measures were taken to distinguish between the two candidates: the incumbent appears as “Dan S. Sullivan,” with party affiliation and incumbency noted, while the other appears as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” with no party affiliation added. Alaska’s use of ranked-choice voting also allows voters to rank both candidates, mitigating confusion.
Both the Peltola campaign and national Democrats have denied involvement in Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy. They joined the lawsuit as additional defendants alongside national Democratic groups and nonpartisan organizations such as the League of Women Voters and Common Cause.
Senator Sullivan, in a recent interview, said he would accept the election results but suggested—without providing evidence—that the race could be vulnerable to fraud.
Judge Gleason noted that the Trump administration’s lawsuit intruded upon state authority over the timing, place, and manner of elections as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. She argued that the administration’s requested court orders, including preventing certification of election results and investigating voter intent, directly interfere with how Alaska conducts its elections and could increase the confusion they sought to address.
The Justice Department has not responded publicly to the ruling or indicated whether it plans to appeal. The dismissal marks another setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to contest state election processes in recent months.