Breaking News · October 23, 2026, 12:21 PM CDT
As reported by BBC:
The Trump administration wants to block the certification of the Senate race in Alaska if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that another candidate with the same name may confuse voters.
In a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday, the justice department said the inclusion of another Dan Sullivan on the ballot could lead some to mistakenly cast their vote for the wrong candidate.
Polls suggest the race between Sen Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola is tight, with Peltola holding a narrow lead in the final days before the 3 November midterm elections.
The government wants the judge to bar the state from certifying the results if Sen Sullivan loses by a margin less than the other Sullivan.
Previous efforts to remove the other Sullivan, a retired teacher, from the ballot have been rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has referred to the second Sullivan's candidacy as a "scam" and said his administration was looking at "powerful legal options" to prevent him from running.[1]
Video: ABC News, October 23, 2026 — “DOJ preemptively sues to block Alaska senate race certification if Republican loses”. Matched to this story by shared names and terms in its title; watch the original for full context.
On the record
President Donald Trump has referred to the second Sullivan's candidacy as a "scam" and said his administration was looking at "powerful legal options" to prevent him from running.[1]
“This is friendly fire, this is suing Republicans in Alaska, I don’t know that is going to be taken by state officials,” Muller said.[2]
The numbers in the reporting
How 5 outlets are reporting it
- Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election (BBC)
- Justice Dept. Moves to Block Certification of Alaska Senate Race Results if Republican Loses (The New York Times)
- Trump administration sues to block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Democrat wins, blaming name confusion (10TV)
- Trump DOJ sues to block Alaska US Senate results if Republican incumbent loses (CNN)
- DOJ sues to block Alaska election results if GOP incumbent loses (Axios)
What CNN reports
The Trump administration has preemptively filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses in the critical contest which could decide the balance of power in the Senate.
The lawsuit represents the latest attempt of the Trump Justice Department to insert itself in the administration of elections, running up against the minimal role the Constitution gives the Executive Branch.
It alleges that a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could confuse voters and wants a court to potentially delay the certification of the election if Sen. Sullivan is defeated next month.[2]
What is not yet confirmed
- Dan J Sullivan has repeatedly denied those claims, telling the local Petersburg Pilot newspaper earlier this year that he "wouldn't even know who to speak to" in Peltola's campaign.[1]
- The presence of the second Sullivan has brought additional controversy to the race and has already been a source of litigation, as Republicans have alleged he is running a spoiler candidacy designed to confuse voters.[2]
What the official record says
Bloomfieldct says, in its own words:
Skip to contentTOP HEADLINES FEATURES Updated: 3 hours ago |By Rob Polansky Serious injuries were reported in a three-vehicle crash that happened in the Town of Washington on Thursday, state police said.[3]
Ryan Fazio met Thursday night for their first televised debate, hosted by WFSB and CT Insider.[3]
How to Verify This Yourself
Each headline above links to that outlet’s own report. The quoted passages come from the first two of those reports that could be retrieved in full.
References
- BBC. Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election. ↩
- CNN. Trump DOJ sues to block Alaska US Senate results if Republican incumbent loses. ↩
- Bloomfieldct. WFSB | Eyewitness News 3 Primary (official source) ↩
- Yahoo. Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election. Related coverage (not quoted above) ↩
- BBC. Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election. Related coverage (not quoted above) ↩
Investigative methodology: this story was selected because 5 separate news organizations were reporting it at the same time. The quoted text is verbatim from the cited reports; nothing is paraphrased or added. Produced by scripts/breaking_news_monitor.py, not a language model.
Kemetic Minds Editorial Desk
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