Saturday, October 24, 2026

Trump: “I ordered a lawsuit to delay certification of Alaska election results” ... Can a “Democratic Congress” block it with a lawsuit (?)

Input
2026-10-24 04:16:37
Updated
2026-10-24 04:16:37
[Financial News]  
The incumbent Republican U.S. senator Dan Sullivan (left) and Dan Sullivan (right), a candidate with the same name who ran this time for the U.S. Senate seat from Alaska. U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 23rd (local time) that he had directed the Justice Department to sue to delay certification of the election results, without mentioning the measures taken to prevent voter confusion. AP Newsis

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 23rd (local time) that he had directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit to delay certification of the Alaska Senate election results. The suit seeks to delay certification if Republican candidate Dan Sullivan loses.
The Associated Press reported that concerns are growing that a prolonged dispute between the federal and state governments over certification of the election results could ensue if Republicans lose the election.
After arriving in Florida that day to support campaign events, President Trump told reporters, “I was the one who ordered it to be done exactly that way.”
The lawsuit, filed late the previous day, took issue with the fact that there was a candidate with the same name as Dan Sullivan. The concern is that, amid a tight race with Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, voters could get confused and vote for the other Dan Sullivan.
The namesake candidate is a retired teacher from the small fishing town of Petersburg who registered as a Republican just before entering the race. Republicans claim that Democrats arranged for him to run in order to confuse voters intending to vote for Republican Dan Sullivan.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Alaska, the Trump administration’s Justice Department asked the court to prevent the state from certifying a winner if Daniel (Dan) J. Sullivan remains on the ballot. The department argues that if voter confusion may have affected the election results, official certification should be blocked until voters’ actual intent can be determined.
Earlier, in June, Alaska election officials tried to remove the namesake Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot over concerns about voter confusion, but a state court allowed him to run, and the state supreme court upheld that decision.
Alaska is a state dominated by Republicans, yet an unusual situation is unfolding in which the federal government under a Republican president is suing a Republican-led state government.
There is speculation that the lawsuit could be a legal maneuver to challenge an unfavorable result after the midterm elections.
Alaska is a key battleground in this election that could determine whether Republicans or Democrats hold the Senate majority.
Alaska election officials also took steps to minimize confusion. They included the candidates’ middle initials on the ballot, listing them as “Dan S. Sullivan” and “Dan J. Sullivan.” They also identified Dan S. Sullivan as the “incumbent,” while omitting the “Republican” affiliation from the listing for his namesake, Dan J. Sullivan.
CNN noted that measures to reduce confusion had already been taken and that it would be difficult to determine voters’ actual intent after the election, making it uncertain whether a court would grant the Justice Department’s request.
Election law expert Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame Law School, told The Washington Post (WP) that Republicans control Alaska’s state government and criticized the lawsuit as “friendly fire.” He said, “I don’t know how state officials will view a lawsuit against Alaska Republicans.”

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter