DOJ Seeks to Block Alaska Senate Certification

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alaska on Thursday, October 22, 2026. It asked the court to bar state authorities from certifying any Senate race result that may be affected by voter confusion. Department officials said a third contender, Republican Dan J. Sullivan Jr., was a bid to mislead supporters of incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan into voting for the wrong candidate. Under the request, certification would be blocked if Sen. Sullivan loses to Mary Peltola and ranked-choice tallies show he would have won without the namesake candidacy. President Donald Trump said on Friday, October 23, 2026, that he directed the department to act. The Republican Party had tried and failed to remove Dan J. Sullivan before Alaska's Supreme Court ruled in June that he could stay on the ballot. Voters queued at an early-voting polling station in Anchorage on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Trump won Alaska by 13 points in 2024. The state has approximately 740,000 inhabitants. The government asked the court, if Peltola wins, to require officials to establish to what extent Dan J. Sullivan's candidacy cost the incumbent votes.