U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, are running for U.S. Senate from Alaska.
Kent Nishimura | Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
An Alaska federal judge on Friday continued his expedited effort to dismiss a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to delay certification of the state’s U.S. Senate election because of possible voter confusion caused by the presence of two Dan Sullivans — one of whom is the incumbent Republican — on the ballot.
Judge Sharon Gleason ordered the DOJ to respond Friday by 1 p.m. Alaska time to the new motions to dismiss, which were filed hours after the department amended its complaint in U.S. District Court in Anchorage on Thursday to add a new lawsuit.
The DOJ’s update to the civil complaint forced Gleason to rule that the earlier dismissal motions were moot.
Gleason gave state election officials, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign and other groups until noon Saturday to respond to the DOJ’s response.
The judge’s order leaves open the possibility that she will rule on motions to dismiss before Tuesday, Election Day, as requested by the state and Peltola’s campaign.
The state, the campaign and others in the lawsuit argue that the DOJ has no legal authority to block certification of an election because two candidates on a four-candidate ballot share the same name.
The winner of the Alaska race could determine which party holds the majority in the Senate in January. Republicans currently have 53 seats in the 100-member House.
Alaska elections use ranked choice. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first count, then the fourth choice will be eliminated and the second choice on that candidate’s ballots will be allocated to the remaining candidates.
Only Peltola and Senator Sullivan are considered likely to attract a significant share of the vote.
The DOJ’s suit seeks to delay certification of the Senate election if Sen. Sullivan loses by a margin that could be attributable to voter confusion over the presence of the other candidate, who is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan, on the ballot.
Dan J. Sullivan, a candidate in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race who shares his name with the incumbent seeking re-election, speaks with a reporter in Petersburg, Alaska, July 3, 2026.
Becky Bohrer | P.A.
The amended complaint, which updates the complaint filed October 23, adds a claim under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution to the first claim, under the National Voter Registration Act.
The DOJ also included details of a New York Times article published Wednesday that reported that Peltola campaign aides and top Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aides helped recruit retired teacher Danel J. Sullivan to enter the Senate race in hopes of drawing votes from the incumbent Sullivan.
Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC deny involvement in the retiree’s Senate campaign.
Peltola’s campaign, in its motion to dismiss filed Thursday, said: “Rather than defend its indefensible legal claims as it has been ordered to do, the Department of Justice… has filed an amended complaint that does nothing to resolve the fatal problems that prevent it from bringing this case or obtaining the relief it seeks.”
“The U.S. Constitution leaves the regulation of federal elections exclusively to the states and Congress, and the DOJ has no statutory authority to bring this action,” the motion states.
In their own motion to dismiss, state election officials said the amended lawsuit “relies on the same baseless theory that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) — a voter registration law — governs this case, which has nothing to do with voter registration.”
“Because this reading of the NVRA fails, the amended complaint fails,” the motion states.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy requested
Gn usa
