Associate Press
JUNEAU, Alaska — A federal judge on Sunday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, the latest development in a ballot controversy that has roiled the final days of one of the nation’s most closely watched races.
Sullivan, an ally of President Donald Trump, faces Democrat Mary Peltola, Yupʼik and a former congresswoman, in a race that is among a handful expected to determine which party controls the Senate for the final two years of Trump’s term.
Tuesday’s ranked-choice election also includes two candidates who have done little campaigning, one of whom shares the incumbent’s name. It was that candidate’s presence on the ballot that prompted Trump to push for the lawsuit out of fear he would siphon votes from the incumbent.
Shortly after the ruling, the Justice Department filed a notice that it would appeal: “Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the election and as early voting was underway, called for an investigation into whether votes for retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan were intended for the senator, Dan S. Sullivan. The state said the case lacked merit and argued there would be no way to determine that without violating voter privacy.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the relief the federal government sought was “infeasible” because many voters have already cast their ballots. “More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy,” she wrote.
Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee argued that the case lacked any legal basis and amounted to election interference. “Today’s ruling is a victory for democracy and a clear message to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans: No one, no matter how powerful, can toss out free and fair elections just because they don’t like the result,” said the committee’s executive director, Devan Barber.
Peltola’s campaign hailed the ruling. “No sham investigation or baseless lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from electing Mary on Nov. 3 so she can lower costs for Alaska’s working families,” the campaign said in a statement, alluding to a federal probe disclosed after President Trump said last week that he wanted Peltola prosecuted for the scheme. Attorneys for the state did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Earlier Sunday, Sen. Sullivan told CNN that he thought the presence of the second Sullivan on the ballot would affect the election. “I’m sure I’m going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery,” he said. He also said he doubted claims by Peltola that she had no idea her top political aides were involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run as a way to confuse voters. “There is no way this went on for a year that they weren’t informing her,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “She got caught lying, and she’s still lying to the Alaskan people, the media, to all of us.”
In the week before Election Day, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign was involved in efforts to recruit the second Sullivan. Shortly after entering the race in June, Dan J. Sullivan said he’d had no contact with her campaign about running. He has not responded to multiple messages over the past few days. His recent public absence prompted a social media post Sunday by the president: “The Fake Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., has DISAPPEARED! Nobody can find him, including Law Enforcement.”
Peltola’s campaign responded to the Times story by saying it had no involvement in the campaigns for either Sullivan: “I am not interested in tricking voters,” Peltola said during a recent campaign event. In its statement indicating its plans to appeal, the Justice Department said the federal judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds but did not dispute the government’s argument that Dan J. Sullivan entered the race “as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters.”
State courts, including the Alaska Supreme Court, rejected an earlier Republican-backed effort to block the retired teacher from the August open primary ballot on which he appeared as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation.
The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. Both Sullivans appear the same way on the general election ballot.
