Dan Sullivan vs Dan Sullivan: Why is Trump’s DOJ suing in Alaska?
US government seeks to delay Alaska Senate result over concerns about two candidates with the same name.
The United States Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit seeking to delay certification of Alaska’s Senate election result if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan narrowly loses to Democrat Mary Peltola in the November 3 midterms.
In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, the department argued that the second Sullivan, a retired teacher who registered as a Republican, is deliberately trying to confuse voters.
Senator Sullivan is seeking a third six-year term in the race against Peltola, a former congresswoman who became the first Alaska Native elected to the US House of Representatives in 2022.
If nobody wins more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Their votes are transferred to the next-ranked candidates still in the race. This continues until two candidates remain, and the one with the most votes wins.