Photo: Paxson Woelber / The Alaska Landmine, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY). File photo of the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, not a photo of the court ruling.
A federal judge in Anchorage on Sunday threw out the Trump administration's lawsuit over Alaska's pivotal Senate race, delivering a major court ruling just two days before voters go to the polls in the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3. The decision is a genuine update to a case this blog covered on Saturday, when Alaska had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and no ruling had yet been issued. Now the court has ruled, and it ruled against the administration.
US District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the Justice Department's case, finding that the federal government lacked the legal standing to bring it and that the relief it sought would threaten Alaskans' right to a secret ballot. The ruling clears the way for Alaska to count and certify its Senate election under state law, unless an appeal changes that picture before Tuesday.
What the judge decided
The Justice Department had asked the court to block Alaska from certifying a victory by Democratic challenger Mary Peltola if votes for a second candidate with a similar name could have changed the outcome. It also sought to have ballots cast for that second candidate segregated so federal investigators could examine them. Judge Gleason rejected that approach outright.
"The United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy," Gleason wrote, according to reports of the ruling. She dismissed the case on the basis that the federal government had failed to establish the standing required to bring it, including the requirement that a court order could redress the claimed harm.
The judge also found that it was too late for the courts to impose such a major change on the eve of an election. Alaska uses a ranked-choice ballot, and Gleason concluded that segregating ballots in the way the government proposed would likely violate voters' right to cast a secret ballot.
The two Dan Sullivans at the centre of the case
At the centre of the dispute are two men with almost the same name on Alaska's Senate ballot. The incumbent is Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The other is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher from the fishing village of Petersburg, who is also running for the seat.
The Justice Department sued Alaska election officials on October 22, arguing that results should not be certified unless Senator Sullivan was declared the winner. The administration alleged that Peltola's campaign helped recruit the second Sullivan to run, creating confusion that could divert votes intended for the incumbent. That allegation rests on New York Times reporting cited by the Justice Department, and Peltola denies any role in the second Sullivan's candidacy.
Alaska's Republican-led state government had asked Gleason on Saturday to dismiss the case permanently, calling it "meritless" and the relief it sought "not even possible." The state argued its ballot was carefully designed to minimise confusion: the senator is listed as a Republican and the incumbent, while the other candidate appears simply as "Daniel J. Sullivan." The Alaska Supreme Court ruled this summer that the second candidate met the legal requirements to stay on the ballot.
What happens next
The Justice Department moved quickly to appeal. Reports on Sunday said the department filed a notice of appeal after the ruling, and a spokesperson described the dismissal as being on procedural grounds. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters after landing in Iowa for a campaign rally on Sunday, said he had not heard about the ruling but described the Justice Department's case as "one of the most meritful things" and a "very important lawsuit," according to CNN. Trump has previously said he personally ordered the lawsuit to be filed.
The Alaska race is one of a handful that could help decide control of the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. More than 52 million Americans had already voted early ahead of Tuesday's midterms, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab, as reported by Reuters. For now, Alaska's counting and certification will proceed under state control while the appeal is pending, and voters will decide the race on Tuesday regardless of the legal fight around it.
Sources: Reuters, November 1, 2026; CNN, November 1, 2026; USA Today, November 1, 2026; NPR, November 1, 2026. The recruitment allegation rests on New York Times reporting as cited by the Justice Department and is denied by Peltola; the ruling's reasoning is as reported by the cited outlets.