Alaska's 2026 election story just keeps getting more and more convoluted. We have, apparently, hot and cold running Dan Sullivans, with the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) facing a challenger also named Dan Sullivan, and the incumbent has won the endorsement of a former mayor of Anchorage, also named Dan Sullivan.
The two candidates Sullivan are supposedly squaring off against Democrat Mary Peltola, and plenty of Alaska voters are more than a tad skeptical about the challenger Dan Sullivan, seeing him as a possible spoiler in the race. Last summer, the Alaska Division of Elections tried to strike the challenger Dan Sullivan off the ballot, claiming he was a sham candidate. He may very well be, but the Alaska Supreme Court (rightly) decided that it's not up to the Alaska Division of Elections to judge a candidate's sincerity, only his legal eligibility. The challenger Sullivan is eligible and submitted the proper paperwork by the proper date, so he's on the ballot.
Now, it seems, the Trump administration is weighing in, with a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election results if 1) Sen. Dan Sullivan doesn't win reelection, and 2) votes potentially cast for the challenger Sullivan by confused voters could have changed the outcome.
NEW: The Trump administration sued Alaska to prevent certification of its U.S. Senate election if incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan loses and votes for another candidate named Daniel Sullivan could have changed the outcome, alleging voter confusion under federal law. https://t.co/Y8zV0Pt5qH
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) October 23, 2026
It's an interesting point of view, but I doubt this one's going to fly, either. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, states in part:
1. Dan S. Sullivan (“Senator Sullivan”) has represented the State of Alaska in the United States Senate since 2015. He is running for reelection as a Republican in November 2026, in what most observers believe will be a close race against Democrat Mary Peltola.
2. Daniel J. Sullivan decided to run for Senator in 2026 as a Republican with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him. The sole purpose of his candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan.
Here's where I think this case will likely fail: The plaintiffs appear to be judging the unknowable intentions of Daniel J. Sullivan in deciding to run for the United States Senate. That's more or less what the Alaska Division of Elections did last summer, and that didn't work then. I doubt it will work now.
Now, as a matter of personal opinion, I happen to believe that Daniel J. Sullivan did precisely what this lawsuit maintains — he ran as a spoiler, to try to muddy the waters and siphon votes away from the incumbent. But the Alaska Division of Elections can't read minds, and neither can the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
There's a matter of principle here, and the thing about principles is that they must be applied in the same way in every case. In this case, no matter what we suspect about Daniel J. Sullivan's motivations (and I'd bet money on them), the only thing that matters here is that Daniel J. Sullivan followed all of the legal procedures and requirements to run for this office. He did so. It's not the place of the Alaska Division of Elections to judge his sincerity, and it's not the place of the U.S. District Court to judge his sincerity.
Yes, when worn on the other foot, the shoe pinches. This time we're the ones being pinched. But we can't play fast and loose with elections, or with the law. We cannot read minds, nor should we try to. That's why I suspect this case won't go anywhere.
To my fellow Alaska Republicans, I can say only this: Let's get out there for Senator Sullivan and make this Trump administration effort unnecessary. And vote Yes on 2 to dump ranked-choice voting!
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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