USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 10 August 2026Todd Blanche Defends DOJ Suit To Block Alaska Senate Certification If Dan Sullivan Loses
“‘We're not laying any groundwork for the president to do that,’ Blanche told anchor Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union, after she asked whether the administration was positioning Trump to overturn a result he did not like.”
“Another expert, David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said this suit marked ‘an unprecedented intervention by the federal government’”
Photo: Ryan M. Biller / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
DOJ sued to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan narrowly loses due to ballot confusion. Trump directed DOJ to file; AG Blanche defends action citing voter confusion.
DOJ seeks Alaska delay
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department was “doing our own research under the law” as it sought to prevent Alaska from certifying the Senate election if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.
Blanche argued the lawsuit is “not saying, 'don't certify.'” and said a court would need to determine the race was decided “because of confusion, and not the will of the voters.”
The dispute centers on whether voters could be confused by a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, who shares the same first and last name as the sitting senator.
The Justice Department’s challenge asks Alaska not to certify results that may be impacted by voter confusion, and it was filed late Thursday in federal court in Alaska, 11 days before the Nov. 3 election.
Trump, Murkowski, Peltola
President Donald Trump said, “I’m the one that said do it,” describing his directive to file the lawsuit to block certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.
Blanche told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the administration was not laying groundwork for Trump to overturn election results, and he insisted, “President Trump is not trying to take over a state election in any way, shape or form.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski criticized the move in a social media post, writing, “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.”
Mary Peltola’s campaign called the suit “a despicable political threat to overturn an election,” while Peltola told reporters the dispute was “another diversion from the issue Alaskans want to talk about, which is affordability.”
Ballot mechanics and stakes
The lawsuit points to Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system and argues that if Sen. Sullivan does not win and votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan had instead been cast for Senator Sullivan, “Senator Sullivan would have won the election.”
Blanche said the Justice Department’s request is meant to “put guardrails in place” to preserve possible evidence of voter confusion at the polls, and he said the case is ultimately for Alaska and its courts to settle.
The ballot listing described in the coverage would show “Dan S. Sullivan” as a “registered Republican” and “incumbent,” while “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” would carry no party affiliation.
The dispute is framed as a test of whether Alaska violated federal law and the Constitution by permitting a potentially confusing ballot process to continue, with the outcome tied to who controls the Senate for the second half of President Trump’s term.