As ballot counting continues across Alaska following the 2026 midterm elections, the high-stakes United States Senate contest in the state has escalated into an unprecedented legal and political clash. Former President Donald Trump demanded on Thursday, November 5, that all ballots cast for independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. be immediately awarded to incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, insisting that the sitting senator be declared the winner without further delay.
The demand comes as election authorities in Alaska work through mail-in and absentee ballots in one of the tightest and most contentious congressional races in the nation, where the presence of two candidates sharing the name Dan Sullivan has spurred federal lawsuits, federal law enforcement interviews, and sharp political recriminations.
Trump Calls for Immediate Vote Transfer on Truth Social
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social on the morning of November 5, Trump attacked the election process and demanded that state officials alter vote tabulations. In his post, Trump argued that ballots cast for independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan should be merged directly with those cast for incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan.
"The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other 'slug' that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over — He easily wins. There is no other fair solution!" Trump wrote in his morning post.
Trump's demand directly contradicts Alaska election law. Under the state's ranked-choice voting system, votes cast for an eliminated candidate cannot simply be reassigned to another candidate at will. Instead, when lower-ranking candidates are eliminated in subsequent rounds of tabulation, ballots are transferred strictly according to each individual voter's ranked preferences marked on the ballot. If a voter chose not to rank subsequent candidates, the ballot becomes exhausted and is removed from the active denominator.
According to preliminary results released by the Alaska Division of Elections updated as of 2:11 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, Democratic challenger Mary Peltola held a narrow lead with 48.2% of the vote. Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan stood closely behind at 47.9%. A second Republican candidate, Gerald Heikes, received 2.3% of the vote, while independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan captured 1.7%. Approximately one-fourth of ballots remained to be counted across the state, with mail ballots postmarked by Election Day legally eligible for inclusion if received within 10 days for domestic mail and 15 days for overseas military ballots. Official ranked-choice tabulation is scheduled to take place on November 18, with formal certification scheduled for November 25.
Federal Court Dismisses Pre-Election Justice Department Lawsuit
Trump's public demand follows an aggressive and controversial legal push by the federal government. On October 23, Trump publicly stated that he had ordered the Department of Justice to file a federal lawsuit seeking to block the certification of the Alaska Senate election results if incumbent Dan Sullivan were to lose. Voting rights scholars described the federal action as an unprecedented peacetime intervention into state election administration.
In its legal filings submitted less than two weeks before Election Day, the Justice Department argued that the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan created severe voter confusion that threatened the integrity of the election. Department attorneys asked the court to segregate ballots cast for Dan J. Sullivan and conduct an investigation into voter intent.
However, United States District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage decisively dismissed the lawsuit on Sunday, November 1. In her ruling, Judge Gleason wrote that the federal government failed to demonstrate legal grounds to interfere in the state election. She emphasized that the Justice Department offered no rebuttal to grave constitutional concerns regarding the preservation of secret balloting and provided no viable framework for how law enforcement agents could question voters about their intent without destroying the fundamental confidentiality of the ballot.
Despite the pre-election dismissal, the Justice Department announced it would appeal the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A spokesperson for the department asserted in a public statement that voters deserved a fair election free of intentional deception. Under the briefing schedule established for the appeal, the Justice Department's opening brief is due on December 14, and answering briefs are due on January 11, 2027. That schedule ensures that appellate review will extend well beyond the January 3, 2027 constitutional date on which the newly elected 120th Congress is sworn into office.
Small-Town Investigation in Petersburg and Political Repercussions
The national controversy has centered heavily on Petersburg, a small commercial fishing community of several thousand residents located in Southeast Alaska. The second candidate on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, is a retired local elementary school teacher. While Republican leaders pointed to a New York Times investigation alleging that campaign operatives affiliated with Peltola encouraged his entry into the race to siphon conservative votes, Peltola has repeatedly maintained that she had no knowledge of any such scheme.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived in Petersburg in late October to interview residents who donated to Dan J. Sullivan's campaign. Records indicate that approximately a dozen donors contributed a combined total of $7,150 to his modest effort. Among those questioned by federal agents were Petersburg residents Sharon Hunter, who with her husband gave $1,000, and Anna Holmes, who with her husband contributed $500. Agents inquired whether contributors felt misled by the candidate's name or intended their money for the incumbent senator.
When interviewed by reporters in June, Dan J. Sullivan insisted that he filed for office independently, stating he had "zero, none, zilch" communication with Democratic officials or Peltola's campaign. On the official ballot, state election authorities identified the incumbent as "Dan S. Sullivan" with the designation "registered Republican" and "incumbent," while listing the challenger as "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr." without party affiliation.
For his part, incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan told CNN during a television interview on November 1 that he would accept the final certified election results. In a state where roughly 60% of the 600,000 registered voters are not affiliated with either major political party, the unusual contest has highlighted the intricate dynamics of Alaska's electoral landscape.