Justice Department seeks to block Alaska Senate election certification if Republican loses

The Trump administration's Justice Department has sued to stop Alaska from certifying its 2026 Senate election result in certain circumstances. The lawsuit was filed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. It argues that two candidates share very similar names: Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and challenger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The DOJ says this could confuse voters. If Senator Sullivan loses, and the challenger's votes would have been enough to change the result, the lawsuit asks a court to block certification. In the primary, Senator Sullivan received nearly 69,000 votes, while his namesake received around 4,000. His likely Democratic opponent is former Representative Mary Peltola. Critics say the federal government has no authority to intervene in state election processes this way.