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A legal expert says a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) will not last long and threatens to delegitimize the election results if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan loses November’s Senate election in Alaska.
“I see no possibility that a literate voter would not be able to distinguish between two Daniel Sullivan names on the ballot,” Emily L. Waters, a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, told Global News.
On Thursday, the DOJ filed a lawsuit to block Alaska from certifying its Senate election results if Sullivan, the incumbent, does not win.
President Donald Trump said he ordered the lawsuit because there would be two Dan Sullivans on the ballot.
Both identify themselves as members of the Republican Party.
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“They have two guys named Dan Sullivan running,” Trump said. “So the Democrats put forward a guy, I don’t think he’d ever voted before. All of a sudden he decided to run for the Senate and his name was Dan Sullivan.”
In court filings, the DOJ claims the second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, ran with the goal of misleading and confusing voters to benefit his Democratic rival, Mary Peltola.
The documents further state that, if incumbent Sullivan were to lose, certification of the election results would jeopardize the integrity of the election.
The Alaska Supreme Court previously ruled that both names could remain on the ballot.
Even if Sullivan’s second run to mislead voters, Waters said that doesn’t justify a legal fight.
“Judge Zeman has addressed this before in state court and said there is no problem if someone participates in an election to harass or divert attention, as long as they follow procedures, their motivation for participating in the vote is irrelevant.”
He added that appreciation needs to be given to voters to be able to differentiate between candidates.
In a statement on social media, Peltola said the lawsuit represented “corruption [Alaska] I’ve had enough.”
“Sullivan has enriched himself at our expense for 12 years,” he said. “Now he is using his D.C. allies to try to retain power and put his own interests ahead of Alaska’s interests.”
If Peltola wins Alaska, it would give Democrats one of the four seats needed to control the Senate.
– With files from Candice Cole of Global News
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
