Feds sue to pause Alaska Senate results over duplicate candidate

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit this week to halt the certification of the Alaska Senate race. The administration wants to pause official results until a criminal investigation concludes. The case centers on whether voters were confused by two candidates who share the exact same name.

The lawsuit targets Democrat Mary Peltola, who is challenging Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. The race is the final vote in a cycle that could decide control of the Senate. Peltola previously served as the state's only member of the House of Representatives. She announced her Senate bid in January of this year.

The controversy involves a second candidate on the ballot, a retired school teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. He has done little to campaign for the position. Alaska Republicans have long suspected he was a political plant. Internal communications from the Peltola campaign reportedly show she recruited him. The New York Times revealed these texts this week.

President Donald Trump reacted to the reports by calling for Peltola to be prosecuted. His administration issued a series of subpoenas to launch the criminal investigation. The Justice Department also moved to stop the certification of a potential Peltola win. The department stated it is following the facts and the law, not a political timetable.

Peltola has denied involvement in the scheme. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has also denied that the party orchestrated the move. Critics of the administration argue that the Justice Department is using its power to target political enemies. They point to a recent surge in investigative actions within 60 days of an election, a period where the department usually stays quiet.

Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University and a former Justice official, said the timing is unusual. He noted that recruiting spoiler candidates is a common tactic in American politics. He stated that no behavior disclosed so far violates federal law. Levitt added that while the practice may be distasteful, it happens frequently.

The tactic is not new to the current administration. In Ohio, a group tied to the president is urging voters to support a socialist candidate to drain votes from the Democrat. In Nevada, a Republican-backed operation is boosting an independent governor candidate named Danielle Ford. She shares a last name with the Democratic challenger to the state's Republican governor.

Jason Torchinsky, a former Justice Department official, said the case highlights how Alaska's ranked-choice voting system can be manipulated. In that system, anyone who pays a $100 filing fee can reach the primary ballot. The top four finishers advance to November, where voters rank three choices. Torchinsky called the current race a prime example of how the system can be gamed.

Defenders of the voting system argue it is harder to manipulate because voters can rank both Sullivans. Sullivan's campaign is urging Alaskans to do exactly that. Republicans in the state are also trying to repeal the system through a ballot measure this election. In states with traditional voting, a vote for a third-party candidate directly reduces the pool for major-party candidates.

The use of identical names has had legal consequences before. In 2020 in Florida, a candidate named Alex Rodriguez won 6,382 votes as an independent. His presence helped a Republican win a state Senate seat by 32 votes. A former state senator was convicted of illegal campaign contributions and falsifying a candidate form for helping the second Rodriguez run. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, expects a judge to quickly reject the Justice Department's lawsuit. He called the suit frivolous if Dan Sullivan does not win. Becker suggested that Congress should eventually pass rules to regulate these tactics, noting that both parties use them often.