Courts & Justice · Report · File No. 261101-326
Judge tosses Trump administration suit to block Alaska Senate results if Sullivan loses
A federal judge ruled the Justice Department cannot bring its suit over Alaska's Senate race. The ruling comes two days before the midterms, and the department is expected to appeal.
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A federal judge has thrown out the Trump administration's highly unusual attempt to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate results if the Republican incumbent loses. In a ruling released Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason found that the federal government does not have the ability to bring the lawsuit 1.
Gleason was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat. Justice Department lawyers are expected to appeal 1.
What the suit sought
The Justice Department filed the case on Oct. 22. It asked a court to block or delay certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, loses to Democrat Mary Peltola, but would have won if every ballot cast for another candidate with a similar name counted for him 2.
That other candidate is Daniel Sullivan Jr., who is not affiliated with a political party. President Trump said he ordered the suit because two of the four Senate candidates on Alaska's ballot have similar names 1.
From Channel GOPPeltola: Tariffs doubled Alaska air taxi's parts billMary Peltola · 142 plays · captioned, with the source named
The only law the department cited was the National Voter Registration Act. Alaska noted that the law covers voter registration, not ballot counting or certification 2. The department had pointed to the law's preamble, which is its introductory statement of purpose 1.
Alaska and Peltola fought back
Alaska's Department of Law asked the judge to dismiss the case right away. It argued the suit has no legal basis and that delaying certification only if a particular candidate loses would threaten election integrity 2.
The state also said it had already reduced confusion by listing the two Sullivans differently on the ballot and labeling the senator as the Republican incumbent 2. Peltola and nonprofit watchdog groups also asked the judge to dismiss the case 2.
Gleason sped up the schedule. She also noted that the federal government sued nearly four months after the Alaska Supreme Court said Sullivan Jr. could be on the ballot 2. That court ruled in June that he has the right to run 1.
The fight is not over
Republicans have long accused Democrats of propping up Sullivan Jr. to spoil the incumbent's chances. A New York Times report on Democratic operatives' efforts to recruit him renewed those claims. NPR said it has not independently confirmed that report 1.
Peltola has denied any involvement 1. Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has ordered his own investigation. He has said the state's certification of the race could be affected by what it finds 1.
If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens,
On Friday, U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman said at a news conference in Anchorage that the Justice Department has an ongoing criminal probe 1. Gleason's ruling covers only the civil suit.
That matters because the governor's investigation and the criminal probe are separate from this case. Voters have not finished casting ballots, and the ruling does not settle who wins. What it does settle, for now, is that a federal judge says Washington cannot use this lawsuit to put a hold on Alaska's count.
The appeal is the next step. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3 1.
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Sources
- NPR, “Judge tosses Trump's attempt to block Alaska Senate results if GOP incumbent loses” (2026-11-01). npr.org/2026/11/01/nx-s1-6023766/doj-alaska-lawsuit-senate-r
- Alaska Public Media, “State of Alaska says DOJ lawsuit over Senate race has no legal basis” (2026-10-27). alaskapublic.org/news/politics/elections/2026-10-27/state-of
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
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