A federal judge in the United States rejected on Sunday an action by President Donald Trump’s administration that sought to prevent Alaska from certifying Republican Senator Dan Sullivan’s defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections if votes cast for a rival with the same name could have altered the result.
The decision by federal Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage was the latest setback in Trump’s efforts to expand the federal government’s role in elections, which under the U.S. Constitution are administered by the states.
The race between Sullivan and former Democratic congresswoman Mary Peltola could be decisive in determining whether Republicans aligned with Trump can keep control of the Senate.
The Trump administration has taken an increasingly aggressive posture on election oversight, pressing states to provide voter registration data and arguing that stricter measures are needed to ensure public confidence in voting. Critics, including Democratic election officials and some Republicans, view those measures as excessive federal intrusion.
The effort to recruit candidates with names similar to the Republican senator’s is reported to have begun in mid-2025, according to an investigation published by The New York Times last Wednesday. The newspaper reported that members of Peltola’s team were directed to find people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska and persuade them to enter the Senate race. The report was based on interviews, text messages and documents prepared for a possible lawsuit against the Democratic campaign.
The initiative reportedly involved members of Peltola’s campaign, lawyers and staff from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which handles the party’s strategy in Senate races. The group also considered creating a new political party to attract conservative voters and fragment support for the Republican senator, according to the report.
Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who was fired in August, told The New York Times that the Democrat was aware of the initiative. The DSCC denied involvement and accused Republicans of also supporting candidacies of opponents in other races. Peltola’s campaign also denied participating in the candidacies of the two Sullivans.
In the August primary, Peltola finished first with 49.5% of the vote. Senator Dan S. Sullivan was second with 41.4%. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. received 2.5%, or 4,107 votes. Under Alaska’s election rules, the four candidates with the most votes in the primary advance to the general election, so both Sullivans are on the ballot for the same Senate seat.
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is a retired teacher who lives in a small fishing community in the state. In interviews with U.S. outlets, he denied that he entered the race to confuse voters or draw votes from the Republican senator.
Sources: G1.