Voting Rights · Report · File No. 261105-661
Alaska Senate race stays uncalled as DOJ appeal and ballot count run on parallel tracks
Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by a few hundred votes with about 74% counted, and the Justice Department is appealing a dismissed lawsuit over a same-named candidate on the ballot. The outcome will decide whether that legal fight still matters.
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Alaska's Senate race is being decided on two tracks at once: a ballot count that could run until November 18, and a federal court fight over two candidates named Sullivan 1. The Associated Press has not called the race 2.
In the latest count, Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 637 votes, while Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired Petersburg teacher who shares the senator's name, drew 3,600 1. A separate count reported Wednesday evening had Peltola ahead 102,701 to 102,075 in first-choice votes, a 626-vote advantage, with an estimated 74% of votes counted 2. All figures are unofficial and will change 1.
That gap is the situation the Justice Department went to court over: Sullivan trailing by fewer votes than his namesake received 1. A judge dismissed the lawsuit two days before Election Day, and the department appealed the same day 1.
President Donald Trump said he ordered the suit, which sought to hold up certification so investigators could check whether voters had confused the two names 1. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason found the government lacked standing because the court could not grant its request without exposing how people voted 1. Setting ballots aside for law enforcement review, she wrote, is not a remedy the court "can or should order" 1.
From Channel GOPBlanche won't say if Trump ordered Alaska lawsuitTodd Blanche · 174 plays · captioned, with the source named
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended preserving the ballots in a Tuesday Fox News interview, describing a scenario in which Sullivan "could lose, but really he didn't lose" if confusion affected the outcome 2. "That's why you need to preserve these ballots," he said 2.
Alaska's own election officials led the opposition, arguing the ballot already distinguished the two Sullivans and that ballots could not be set aside without violating constitutional protections for ballot secrecy 1. Peltola's campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and two Alaska voters represented by the ACLU intervened on the state's side 1.
The department said Gleason ruled on procedural grounds and never disputed its claim that the namesake was a decoy 1. On the 9th Circuit schedule, the department's opening brief is due Dec. 14, with a response due Jan. 11, 2027, a timetable extending beyond certification 2.
Separately, federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas, and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered a state investigation 1. The criminal inquiry has reportedly generated more than 120 subpoenas, along with target and document preservation letters 2. The New York Times reported that Peltola's former campaign manager alleged a Democratic operative helped recruit the namesake; the ex-staffer later retracted her statements, and the Peltola campaign and DSCC deny any role 1.
Sullivan said on CNN before the ruling that he would accept the results if he lost 1. His campaign argues Peltola's narrow lead could disappear once voters' backup choices are counted, projecting a Sullivan win of 105,037 to 104,709 under Alaska's ranked-choice system, in which last-place candidates are eliminated and their ballots transfer until someone has a majority 2.
That matters because the count decides how much the lawsuit matters: if Sullivan pulls ahead, or if Peltola's final margin exceeds the namesake's vote total, the department's scenario disappears; if she wins narrowly, the appeal and the criminal probe become the next battleground 1.
The Record
- The Justice Department files its civil complaint seeking to block certification if Sullivan loses 2.
- Judge Sharon Gleason dismisses the lawsuit, finding no workable remedy that preserves ballot secrecy 2.
- The Justice Department appeals to the 9th Circuit the same day the suit was dismissed 1.
- Latest count shows Peltola ahead by 637 votes with the namesake at 3,600 1.
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Sources
- Newsweek, “Alaska Senate Margin Keeps Justice Department Lawsuit Alive” (2026-11-05). newsweek.com/alaska-senate-margin-keeps-justice-department-l
- Washington Examiner, “DOJ stays quiet on Alaska investigations as Senate race tightens” (2026-11-05). washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/4793420/doj-quiet-alaska
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
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Justice Department asks judge to set aside Alaska ballots that rank Dan J. Sullivan
The filing, five days before the midterm election, asks that ballots ranking the second Dan Sullivan be preserved and kept separate while the government investigates whether voters were confused. Alaska's governor has already ordered a state investigation into Mary Peltola's campaign.
Peltola denies knowing of Alaska's second Dan Sullivan as DOJ issues new subpoenas
Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola said she knew nothing about the namesake candidate on Alaska's ballot. The Justice Department escalated its criminal probe days before an election that could decide control of the Senate.
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