'Absence of any explanation': Judge kills Trump admin's bid to block Alaska Senate election results if GOP incumbent loses after DOJ blames rival with similar name

The Trump administration wanted a federal judge to put Alaska‘s Senate election results on hold over fears that voters might confuse two candidates with nearly identical names. Instead, the judge dismissed the case in a ruling released Sunday — warning that the government’s proposed intervention would collide with Alaskan voters’ right to cast a secret ballot.

“The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is telling,” wrote U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in her ruling.

“Many voters have already cast their ballots in the November 2026 general election,” Gleason noted. “Those cast ballots have been commingled and cannot now be segregated or the identity of the person who cast each ballot ascertained.”

The Barack Obama appointee added, “More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy.”

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The U.S. Department of Justice had asked Gleason to prevent Alaska election officials from certifying the results so the government could investigate whether voters mistakenly selected the wrong Dan Sullivan on their ranked-choice ballots. The DOJ sought to enjoin the forthcoming election certification, arguing that if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan narrowly loses to Democrat Mary Peltola, it may be because unaffiliated candidate Daniel J. Sullivan “decided to run for Senator in 2026 as a Republican with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him.”

Last weekend, Peltola’s principal campaign committee and the DSCC moved to intervene. The Democrats implored the district court to dismiss the lawsuit as soon as “this week,” arguing the case cannot “hang like the Sword of Damocles over the ongoing” midterms.

The government defended its lawsuit and formally opposed the motion to intervene, calling it duplicative of the state’s interest.

In an amended complaint, the DOJ insists that it’s the Democrats themselves who are responsible for the alleged confusion, relying on recent The New York Times reporting that Democrats recruited the second Sullivan.

On Thursday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Peltola’s principal campaign committee insisted nothing changed legally due to the “spoiler” plot reporting. In a renewed motion to dismiss, Democrats argued the amended lawsuit failed to “defend its indefensible legal claims as it was ordered to do” by the court.

On Friday, the Trump administration finally offered that belated defense after the judge overseeing the litigation ordered the government to directly respond to the motions to dismiss by 1 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time — which is 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The government’s response zeroed in on the Times report.

“Tellingly, in their motion, the Peltola Campaign and the DSCC acknowledge the report that they have orchestrated this fraudulent campaign — and they do not deny any aspect of it,” the motion read. “Defendants and Intervenors nevertheless argue the United States and this Court are powerless to do anything to protect Alaskans in these circumstances. They are wrong, and the Court should deny their motions to dismiss.”

Gleason was not persuaded that the government had explained how such an investigation into the alleged confusion would work. Once ballots are cast, determining whether a vote was actually intended for the GOP incumbent would require examining voters’ private choices — precisely the sort of problem the judge said the DOJ had failed to address.

The DOJ had relied on the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act in bringing the case. Its attorneys are expected to appeal.

“At an October 30, 2026, press conference, the United States Attorney for the District of Alaska suggested that federal and state law enforcement officers ‘are working to make sure that your vote counts in a way that you meant and intended it to count’ and represented that this case is ‘focused on preserving the ballots,’ ‘so Alaska can determine’ the winner of the election,” Gleason explained. “In light of this statement and the lack of any explanation by the United States in its filings in this case as to how ballot secrecy would be preserved during this investigation, potential voters may well have concerns regarding the secrecy of their ballot were law enforcement officers to pursue a court-ordered investigation of their intent in the voting booth. Therefore, the court finds that the United States has failed to satisfy its burden to show that its alleged injury is redressable by a court order.”

The similar-name controversy has been simmering for months. Alaska Republicans previously tried to prevent Sullivan Jr. from appearing on the ballot, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that he was entitled to run.

Sullivan, the incumbent, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he would accept the election results, regardless of whether he wins or loses.

The post ‘Absence of any explanation’: Judge kills Trump admin’s bid to block Alaska Senate election results if GOP incumbent loses after DOJ blames rival with similar name first appeared on Law & Crime.