In 60 seconds: Alaska's own Republican-run government asked a federal judge on Saturday to throw out the Trump administration's lawsuit over the state's Senate race, calling the demand to set aside ballots for the "second Dan Sullivan" both "disturbing and impossible."
- Alaska urged U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason to dismiss the DOJ lawsuit, calling it "meritless."
- The state says separating ballots for the second Dan Sullivan would be "both disturbing and impossible" without violating voter privacy.
- The two Sullivans are distinguished on the ballot: the senator as Republican incumbent, the other as "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr."
- The state, Peltola's campaign, and voting-rights groups are now aligned in asking for dismissal — against the DOJ.
- Gleason could rule before Tuesday's Nov. 3 election; ranked-choice tabulation is set for Nov. 18, certification targeted Nov. 25.
The Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. The state's filing asks the court to let Alaska run its election free of federal interference. Photo: James Brooks, CC BY 2.0.
What happened
ANCHORAGE — In one of the stranger twists of this midterm season, the state of Alaska is now fighting the Trump administration in federal court — over Alaska's own election. On Saturday, the state's Republican-run government urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed at President Donald Trump's direction that seeks to stop certification of a possible Democratic win in the state's pivotal U.S. Senate race.
The language was unusually blunt for a state filing about its own election. The filing landed as U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason set a Saturday deadline for arguments over whether she should dismiss the lawsuit without even a hearing. A ruling could come before voters head to the polls on Tuesday.
Latest verified facts
At the center of the fight is a ballot quirk that has consumed Alaska's Senate race: two candidates named Dan Sullivan. One is the Republican incumbent senator. The other is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired school teacher from the remote fishing village of Petersburg. The Justice Department's complaint demands that Gleason halt certification of a possible win by Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola until it can be determined whether voters were confused by the second Sullivan's presence on the ballot.
On Friday, the DOJ added a sharper request: that the judge order all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan to be separated, so investigators could later determine whether voters were fooled into wasting their votes for a spoiler candidate. In Saturday's filing, Alaska answered directly, calling it "both disturbing and impossible" — and adding that there would be no way to do it without violating voter privacy.
Petersburg, Alaska, the fishing village home of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., the retired teacher whose ballot presence is at the center of the lawsuit. Photo: David Brossard, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The backdrop is a New York Times report this week that texts and posts appear to show Peltola's campaign was involved in recruiting the second Sullivan onto the ballot. Peltola has denied involvement; Trump has demanded she be prosecuted, and the DOJ has opened a criminal investigation. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has condemned the second Sullivan's placement and announced a state probe — yet the Alaska Supreme Court ruled this summer that the second candidate fulfilled all legal requirements to stay on, and Saturday's filing says the new revelations don't change that fact. "Not every wrong can be righted in federal court," the state wrote.
Why it matters
Honestly, the most remarkable part of this filing isn't the legal argument — it's who is making it. Alaska's government is Republican-run, its governor has condemned the second Sullivan's candidacy, and its own lawyers are still telling a federal judge that the Trump administration's lawsuit should be thrown out. When a state and the federal government are on opposite sides of a case about that state's own ballots, voters notice.
The Trump administration's answer is that a preamble to the 1990s law governing voter registration gives it responsibility for ensuring states maintain the "integrity" of federal elections, and that it is simply trying to combat fraud in a race that could decide which party controls the Senate. That theory is now being tested, in Alaska, two days before the vote.
Impact on the USA and the world
The national stakes are straightforward: Senate control could hinge on Alaska. That's why a certification fight in a state most Americans rarely think about has drawn the Justice Department, the FBI, and now the state's own lawyers into the same courtroom. If Gleason lets the lawsuit stand, certification of a possible Peltola win could be frozen while investigators argue over voter intent — a precedent every state election office in the country would be watching.
What happens next
Our take: the next move belongs to Judge Gleason, and the clock is brutal. She set a Saturday deadline for dismissal arguments, which means a ruling before Tuesday's election is genuinely possible — and a pre-election ruling, either way, would reset the final days of this race. A dismissal with prejudice would end the certification threat outright; a decision to let the case proceed would keep it hanging over the count.
Watch the criminal track separately from the civil one. The DOJ's subpoenas and criminal investigation don't end with a dismissal ruling, and FBI agents have already visited donors of the second Sullivan in Alaska towns and Massachusetts, with more than 40 new grand-jury subpoenas reported. That investigation is a different story from the certification lawsuit, and it won't be settled on Tuesday.
Then comes the calendar Alaska already has set: the Nov. 3 vote, ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 18, and certification targeted for Nov. 25. The question the filing poses is whether that calendar runs free of federal interference — as Alaska's lawyers demand — or under the shadow of a lawsuit the state calls meritless. Two days out, the state has made its position as clear as it can. Now the judge decides.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the "second Dan Sullivan"? Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired school teacher from Petersburg, Alaska, who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. On the ballot, the senator is listed as a Republican and the incumbent; the other candidate appears as "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr."
What did Alaska ask the judge to do? Dismiss the DOJ lawsuit with prejudice, arguing there is "no reason for this Court to entertain this meritless lawsuit any longer" — and allow the state to conduct the election, including counting and certification, free from federal interference.
Why does Alaska say ballot separation is impossible? The state says ballots for the second Sullivan cannot be separated without violating voter privacy, and called the DOJ's request "both disturbing and impossible."
Sources: Associated Press (Nicholas Riccardi and Becky Bohrer), "Attorneys for Alaska say 'meritless' Trump demand to set aside Senate ballots 'not even possible'" (Oct. 31, 2026).
Read our earlier coverage: FBI Agents Are Knocking on Donors' Doors in Alaska's 'Second Dan Sullivan' Case — Days Before the Vote; Alaska Senate Race: When Will We Know Who Won — and How Ranked-Choice Voting Works There.