WASHINGTON — Attorney General Todd Blanche defended a controversial Justice Department lawsuit on Sunday that seeks to prevent Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate election results if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan is defeated, rejecting accusations that the administration is trying to manipulate midterm outcomes.
The federal legal challenge, submitted late Thursday, contends that ballots could confuse voters because another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is also running, CNBC reported. The Department of Justice maintains that an overlap in names could draw critical support away from the sitting senator and improperly tip the contest toward Democratic nominee Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman who has led narrowly in recent public surveys.
Dispute Over Identical Names on the Ballot
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired school administrator and teacher from Petersburg, Alaska, entered the race without a political party label, according to NPR. Earlier this year, state election administrators attempted to bar him from the ballot after alleging an effort to mislead voters, but the Alaska Supreme Court upheld his right to run.
On Alaska ballots, the incumbent appears as “Dan S. Sullivan” with the labels “registered Republican” and “incumbent,” while the second Sullivan has no party affiliation listed next to his name. President Donald Trump, who told reporters on Friday that he personally ordered the litigation, argued over the weekend that the layout remains unfair.
“At least let him use the name Sen. Dan Sullivan as opposed to incumbent, because a lot of people don’t know what incumbent means,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, Fortune reported.
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Blanche bristled when asked if the action was laying the groundwork to contest unfavorable outcomes, calling that suggestion “crazy.” He maintained that the federal government is merely establishing procedural safeguards in case confusion distorts the true outcome under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting rules.
“It’s not saying, ‘Don’t certify.’ It’s saying, ‘If a court ultimately determines that it was decided because of confusion and not the will of the voters, then we do not think the states should certify,'” Blanche said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Pushback From Democrats and Alaska Republicans
The Justice Department’s intervention triggered swift pushback from voting rights advocates, Democrats, and some Republicans. Peltola described the lawsuit as diversionary corruption, while her campaign filed a motion to intervene alongside civic groups, arguing that the executive branch has no constitutional authority to seize control of state election administration with early voting already underway.
Alaska’s senior lawmaker, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, publicly broke with the administration over the filing. Murkowski wrote on social media that Alaska had already resolved the matter by clearly differentiating both candidates, asserting that the Justice Department should never have brought the lawsuit.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told CBS News on Sunday that while ensuring accurate ballots is reasonable, “I do mind the appearance of filing a lawsuit before we even know if the facts that would substantiate a lawsuit actually occur.”
The case is now before a federal judge in Alaska, where the court must decide whether to dismiss the administration’s challenge or allow further inquiry as voters cast their ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
