Two Names. One Ballot. One Very Convenient Excuse.
The Reported Plan to Challenge Alaska’s Senate Election Raises Alarming Questions.
When an administration threatens legal action unless its preferred candidate wins, the danger extends beyond one Senate seat. It raises the prospect of using the Justice Department to cast doubt on legitimate election results and weaken public confidence in the democratic process.
On 23 October 2026, the Trump administration preemptively filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses in the critical contest which could decide the balance of power in the Senate.
Trump is basing this on the concern that voters will be “confused” by two Dan Sullivans running for office and will vote for the wrong person, unless, again, Dan Sullivan, the Republican, wins.
As the Alaska ballot is written, it would be close to impossible to vote for the wrong Dan Sullivan. The list of the candidates as it appears on the ballot makes clear who each candidate is:
Heikes, Gerald L. (Registered Republican)
Peltola, Mary (Registered Democrat)
Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.
Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican Incumbent)
Write-in:
In ruby red Alaska, the Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, is doing surprisingly well, polling ahead of the Republican incumbent by some points and running behind him by many fewer points than usual. The Republican senatorial candidates across the country are not sweeping past the democrats; it seems Trump’s confidence in his party’s congressional control is fraying.
As Donald Trump and the Department of Justice well know, it is the states that have primary responsibility for administering and certifying elections; federal authorities have limited, legally defined roles in election enforcement and litigation. But just because two people have the same name does not mean something foul is afoot. The DOJ doesn’t need to win the case outright to confuse voters and disrupt the election, and judging by initial reports, it seems unlikely to hold up in court.
While Trump’s political concerns are understandable, his response is not. This lawsuit is right out of the authoritarian handbook and appears to reflect something larger than his stated concern about one senator’s fair election. This preemptive announcement is likely the first of many to come, the administration undermining our democracy as it seeks to sow popular mistrust in midterm elections and results across the country. It is a continuation of Trump’s attempts to control or overturn the outcome of elections unfavorable to him since 2020: through his post-2020-election failed lawsuits, his “big lie,” his more recent unfounded allegations of illegal voting by non-citizens, his unproven allegations of voter machine fraud, and his seeding mistrust in mail-in ballots.
The tactic here also may serve as an attempt to delay the election results and state certifications to benefit the incumbent Republican candidate, keeping the seat open for as long as possible to buy time for other, yet-to-be-revealed, administration election-related initiatives.
If Mary Peltola gets more votes than both Dan Sullivans combined, Trump’s DOJ will truly have nothing to protect Trump and his cronies from being seen as exactly what they are: looking to overturn the votes of tens of thousands of Alaskans. This is the bottom of the barrel.
The Guest Author is an aspiring policy advocate focused on US foreign policy, now a graduate student in Washington, D.C., They study how democracies can strengthen strategy, deepen international cooperation, and counter the spread of authoritarian and autocratic practices, both abroad and at home.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 450 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.