President Donald Trump on Saturday declared the undecided U.S. Senate race in Alaska “over” and claimed Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan had won re-election, despite official counts showing Sullivan trailing Democratic challenger Mary Peltola.
With roughly a quarter of ballots still uncounted across the vast state, Peltola led Sullivan by fewer than 700 votes, capturing 48.17 percent to the Republican’s 47.88 percent, according to tallies reported by The Daily Beast. Yet on his Truth Social platform, Trump maintained Sullivan was ahead and demanded an immediate declaration of victory by insisting that ballots cast for two minor candidates be awarded to the incumbent.
“Daniel Sullivan is leading substantially in the Alaska Senatorial Race,” Trump wrote, arguing that combining Sullivan’s tally with the 3,600 votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and 4,846 votes cast for Gerald Heikes puts the senator “up by thousands of Votes.” He added: “The Alaska Race is OVER. Dan Sullivan WON, BY A LOT!”
Ranked-choice rules and slow counting
Trump’s assertion contradicts Alaska election procedures. Under the state’s ranked-choice voting format, votes do not automatically transfer between candidates based on presidential preference. If no candidate exceeds 50 percent of first-choice votes, the lowest finishers are eliminated and their ballots are redistributed according to each voter’s ranked preferences. That final tabulation is not scheduled to take place until Nov. 18, The Daily Beast reported.
Alaska gives mail-in ballots up to 10 days after Election Day to arrive, and 15 days for overseas military votes, New York Post reported. Only about 74 to 75 percent of the vote had been processed when Trump posted his remarks on Saturday.
Furthermore, an analysis published Nov. 5 by The New York Times found Sullivan was unlikely to erase his deficit in ranked-choice redistribution, reporting that Peltola was selected as the second choice of many voters who backed Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
Federal grand jury scrutiny
The Alaska race has drawn intense political controversy and federal scrutiny over allegations of spoiler candidacies. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a candidate who shared the incumbent senator’s name and who had never voted previously, remained on the ballot despite legal challenges, the outlets reported.
The controversy broadened when federal prosecutors served Heikes, a conservative drywall contractor from Palmer, Alaska, with a grand jury subpoena just days before Election Day, CNN reported. The subpoena from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division directed Heikes to turn over records regarding communications with Peltola’s campaign, political action committees and the Elias Law Group, which represents Peltola and national Democrats.
Heikes told CNN that while an unknown operative pitched him on running, he made his own choice to enter the race. “They want me to appear and tell them what I know and how I was recruited, but I wasn’t recruited. I just took a chance,” Heikes said.
Peltola’s campaign has denied coordinating with or recruiting rival candidates to split the conservative vote.
Trump had also called for a Justice Department investigation into what he described as Democratic schemes to divert ballots away from the incumbent. Newly appointed White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has called the presence of another Sullivan on the ballot an attack on election integrity, according to The Daily Beast.
State election officials continue to process remaining ballots ahead of the planned ranked-choice retabulation later this month.
