World

Trump directs DOJ to sue over Alaska Senate race certification

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, citing voter confusion over another candidate with the same name.

24 October 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: Trump directs DOJ to sue over Alaska Senate race certification — Archive photoPhoto: United States Senate · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

At President Trump's direction, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alaska to block the certification of the Senate race if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola. The lawsuit argues that the state must protect the integrity of federal elections by preventing certification if Daniel J. Sullivan, a candidate from Petersburg, remains on the ballot.

The lawsuit contends that the presence of two candidates with similar names could create confusion among voters and potentially benefit the Democratic nominee. According to the filing, the United States seeks to block certification of a Peltola victory under these circumstances to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska.

Trump publicly took credit for directing the Justice Department to file the lawsuit, stating he had ordered the action to preemptively challenge the election results if the Republican incumbent lost by a narrow margin. According to multiple reports, Trump bragged about the lawsuit while warning of potential electoral irregularities.

The lawsuit addresses the specific circumstance of two candidates on the same ballot bearing versions of the name Dan or Daniel Sullivan. One is the incumbent Republican senator Daniel Sullivan; the other is Daniel J. Sullivan from the small fishing community of Petersburg.

The Alabama Senate race has been identified by observers in both political parties as potentially decisive in determining control of Congress. The lawsuit reflects growing concerns about government involvement in the midterm election process.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.