President Donald Trump said on Friday he ordered the Justice Department to file a lawsuit to block certification of Alaska’s Senate election result if the Republican incumbent loses.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Alaska District Court, argues that voter confusion between two candidates named Dan Sullivan could taint the result. The ballot includes Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan and a lesser-known candidate, Dan J. Sullivan Jr., alongside Democrat Mary Peltola.
The Justice Department’s case states that if Senator Sullivan loses and the margin is smaller than the votes won by his namesake, certification should be held up pending investigation. The lawsuit claims Dan J. Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy is a deliberate ploy to harm the incumbent’s chances, an allegation both Democrats and Sullivan Jr. deny.
Trump confirmed his role in the action during a trip to Florida, telling reporters, “I’m the one that said, ‘Do it.’” Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department was not preparing to interfere in the midterms but refused to rule out a “doomsday scenario.”
Legal experts have dismissed the case as weak. Derek Muller, a legal analyst, called it “absurdly thin” and unlikely to succeed. Sullivan Jr., a registered Republican, was briefly removed from the ballot this summer but reinstated by an Alaskan court, a decision upheld by the state’s supreme court.
Alaska’s ballot distinguishes the candidates by including party labels and incumbent status for Senator Sullivan. The state’s use of ranked-choice voting adds complexity, as candidates are eliminated in rounds if no one secures 50 percent of the initial vote.
Critics, including election law specialists, argue the lawsuit oversteps federal authority. Walter Olson of the Cato Institute called it an abuse of the legal process, while Richard Pildes of New York University described it as one of the weakest election-related cases he had seen.
