Judge tosses Trump DOJ suit to block Alaska's Senate result if Sullivan loses
Two days before Election Day, Judge Sharon Gleason ruled the government had no standing and "no workable plan."
A federal judge in Anchorage on Sunday threw out the Trump Justice Department's lawsuit that sought to block Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. The ruling came two days before Tuesday's election.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed United States v. Alaska (No. 3:26-cv-00376) in a 20-page order, CBS News reported. She ruled the case fails "because the United States has failed to establish the redressability prerequisite for Article III standing." In plain terms: to bring a case, the government had to show a court order could fix the harm it claimed, and it didn't. "More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan," she wrote.
What the government wanted
The department sued Oct. 22 after a second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired school teacher, landed on the ballot. Its complaint asked the court to bar certification of "any result that may be impacted by voter confusion," meaning a race the senator loses but would have won with his namesake's votes, "pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan." The only original claim rested on the National Voter Registration Act, a law about registering voters. The department added a second claim under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause on Oct. 29, Democracy Docket reported.
President Trump said he ordered the suit and claimed Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign recruited the second Sullivan to confuse voters, CNBC reported. That claim has not been proven in any court, and no one in the race has been charged. CBS reported the department has opened a criminal investigation and subpoenaed several Democratic officials.
Who fought it
Alaska's election officials, Peltola's campaign and others asked Gleason to dismiss the case. Alaska Elections Director Carol Beecher had called the complaint "legally baseless," according to Democracy Docket. The ACLU, representing Alaska voters, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause, also moved to join the fight. Gleason had fast-tracked the dismissal bids last week.
What's next
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to CBS News. No appeal had been reported as of Sunday afternoon. Voting ends Tuesday, Nov. 3. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, so voters can rank both Sullivans. If you vote in Alaska, read the names on your ballot carefully.
Sources
- Judge tosses DOJ lawsuit seeking to delay certification of Alaska Senate race (CBS News)
- Judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit over Alaska Senate election (CNBC)
- Complaint, United States v. Alaska, No. 3:26-cv-00376 (D. Alaska, filed Oct. 22, 2026) (copy posted by Democracy Docket)
- DOJ seeks to wipe out bids to dismiss Alaska election case after amending lawsuit (Democracy Docket)
- 52 U.S.C. § 20501, National Voter Registration Act findings and purposes (Cornell LII)
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