But Senator Dan S. Sullivan of Alaska, who is in a tight election fight with the Democrat Mary Peltola, also suggested that the election could be “stolen.”
The ruling dismisses the Department of Justice’s lawsuit that pre-emptively contested the results of a race that includes two candidates named Daniel Sullivan.
Senator was allegedly targeted in ballot-stacking ploy by his Democratic opponent to peel away votes from him Senator Dan Sullivan, the Alaska Republican allegedly targeted in a ballot-stacking ploy by his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, told CNN this morning that he would accept the results of his upcoming election. According to a recent New York Times investigation, aides from Peltola’s campaign recruited another man who shared Sullivan’s name to join the race in a ploy to peel away votes from the Republican incumbent. Continue reading...
More than 40 third-party candidates in pivotal House and Senate races across the country are receiving support from outside super PACs, many of which have ties to the two major parties, an Axios analysis has found. Why it matters: The sums being thrown around, which total more than $16.5 million, are far greater than virtually any of those candidates have raised or spent on their own. The super PACs have spent an average of $375,000 more than the third-party candidates they are supporting. More than half of the 43 candidates haven't filed any financial paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. While it is a comparative drop in the bucket for a midterm that has already seen billions in ad spending nationally, the money will likely play an outsized role in races that are set to be decided by razor-thin margins. Those races, in turn, will help decide the balance of power in Congress next year. Data: Federal Election Commission; Note: Heikes is a self-identified Republican, but Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is the Republican Party-endorsed candidate in the race; Table: Andrew Solender/Axios The top spenders nationwide have been a pair of obscure groups which, like many of the other "pop-up" super PACs in this story, were formed this month and therefore won't have to disclose their donors until after Election Day. Buckeye Freedom PAC has reported spending more than $3.8 million on ads in Ohio's U.S. Senate election supporting Libertarian Bill Redpath and opposing Republican Sen. John Husted, who is in a tight race with Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Alaska Values PAC has disclosed spending $3.8 million backing Gerald Heikes, a self-identified Republican running on Alaska's ranked-choice U.S. Senate ballot with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola. Between the lines : Third-party candidates in Alaska are facing national scrutiny after the New York Times reported that Heikes and another self-proclaimed Republican on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, wer
With control of Congress on the line, next week’s midterms amount to a referendum on Trump, who has urged voters to pretend he is on the ballot Sign up for the Breaking News US email Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Donald Trump is tele-rallying from Mar-a-Lago with just three days to go before the midterm elections. On Sunday, he will make appearances at rallies in Iowa in Kansas in a reversal after he initially backed out . The top federal prosecutor in Alaska confirmed on Friday the existence of a criminal and a civil investigation into an alleged scheme by Mary Peltola’s campaign and national Democrats to confuse voters in the closely watched Senate race by recruiting a spoiler candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan . Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed resisted a demand from his defeated primary rival, congresswoman Haley Stevens , that he apologize for criticism of US military aid to Israel on Friday – two days before they were scheduled to campaign together in Detroit. Early voting this cycle has set a record. More than 49 million Americans have already cast ballots, either in person or by mail, the Associated Press reported. Continue reading...
Trump and Senator Dan Sullivan have put my home state on the chopping block. But Peltola understands Alaskans Donald Trump’s trip to Alaska earlier this month was a real doozy. Should I be surprised? The previous time he visited my home state, in August 2025, he ordered the US military to roll out a red carpet for Russia’s Vladimir Putin . The two billionaire oligarchs chummed it up and posed for cameras, then talked about the war in Ukraine and achieved no formal ceasefire and no peace agreement. Continue reading...
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) suggested Thursday the state could withhold certification of the U.S. Senate election results if Democrat Mary Peltola wins. Why it matters: Withholding certification could complicate Peltola's path to the Senate, as Republicans investigate allegations that Democrats recruited a candidate with the same name as GOP incumbent Dan Sullivan . Driving the news: Asked during an interview with NewsNation whether he would certify the election if Peltola wins while the matter remains under investigation, Dunleavy stopped short of committing to do so. "We're going to investigate it. We're going to follow the law," Dunleavy said, adding that any findings of illegal conduct "may in fact impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate." He said the matter would involve discussions with Senate leadership and that officials would need more information before determining "whether we send something down or not." Pressed on why he had not given an unequivocal yes, Dunleavy said: "We're going to ensure that we aren't going to send a scam to Washington." For the record: Peltola has denied any involvement in the alleged scheme. What they're saying: "Dunleavy's threat to overrule the will of Alaskan voters exemplifies what Alaskans hate about partisan politics and shows why he's the least popular governor in the country," a spokesperson for the "Alaskans for Mary" campaign said in an emailed statement Thursday night. "Mary won't be intimidated by Dunleavy, Sullivan, or any of their DC allies who are trying to steal this election from Alaskans before votes are counted — and she's going to win this race by focusing on solutions to Sullivan's price hiking policies and putting Alaska first." The big picture: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is investigating allegations that Democratic operatives recruited another candidate named Dan Sullivan to draw votes away from the Republican incumbent. President Trump accused Democrats and Peltola's
Alaska's tight Senate race is facing a new controversy over two candidates named Dan Sullivan appearing on the ballot — a twist that's drawn attention from President Trump . The big picture: The controversy is adding uncertainty to one of the nation's most competitive Senate contests, with control of Congress on the line in next week's midterm elections. Catch up quick: The New York Times reported this week that Democratic operatives with ties to Mary Peltola's Senate campaign helped recruit a candidate named Dan J. Sullivan to challenge Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan. Trump accused Peltola and Democrats of election fraud and called for criminal prosecution, though the Times did not establish that any laws were broken. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into Peltola's campaign over the NYT report. House Republicans are also launching an Alaska Senate race probe. Though the presence of two Sullivans in the Senate race has been known for months, the Times' report adds a new wrinkle to a dispute that's already reached the courts. Here's what to know about the controversy. The same-name Senate race controversy The controversy centers on two candidates with nearly identical names appearing on Alaska's Senate ballot: Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and unaffiliated challenger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The ballot will show registered Republican "Sullivan, Dan S." and unaffiliated candidate "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." Peltola and Republican Gerald Heikes will also be on the ballot. The challenger initially filed as a Republican but later changed his registration to undeclared. He will appear on the ballot without a party label. Flashback: Concerns about the duplicate names have existed for months. In June, a top Alaskan election official ruled that candidate Daniel J. Sullivan was ineligible to run on the state's primary ballot. The official said she found the candidacy was "filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballo
President Trump accused Democrats and Mary Peltola's campaign of fraud and perjury Wednesday after the New York Times reported that Peltola aides helped recruit another candidate named Dan Sullivan. Why it matters: The revelations add a new twist to Alaska's tight Senate race, where a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot could complicate the Republican incumbent's reelection bid. Zoom out: "Mary got in this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who is fighting to lower their costs and put Alaska first, and no tweet or threat from any DC politician will keep her away from that fight," an "Alaskans for Mary" spokesperson said in a Wednesday night email. "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign." The campaign confirmed no assertions have been made in federal court about how Dan J. Sullivan's candidacy came to be or who was involved in his decision to run. Driving the news: The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola campaign aides worked with a veteran Democratic operative named Jerid Kurtz, whom the Times described as experienced in ballot-related political tactics. A Peltola staffer was reportedly told to search for every Dan Sullivan in the state. The effort ultimately located Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who registered as a Republican shortly before filing to run for office, per the Times. Dan J. Sullivan previously said he voted for Democrats in the last three presidential elections. He later changed his party registration to undeclared and will appear on November's ballot without a political party label. The latest: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into Peltola's campaign Wednesday as a result of the Times report, posting on X that: "Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support." "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections," he said. Peltola called the Times report a distracti
Senate leaders could be guessing who will control the chamber well into November, thanks to a slew of tight races and state-specific voting rules. Why it matters: A GOP majority would ease the pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to move quickly on nominations, while a Democratic majority would give Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer more leverage in the lame-duck session. If the chamber splits 50/50, leaders will have to start negotiating their power-sharing agreement. Zoom in: Four states could leave the majority in limbo. Alaska: Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) is trying to fend off former Rep. Mary Peltola (D). Alaska election results have taken weeks to finalize because of the vast state's transportation challenges, mail ballots and ranked-choice tabulation. The Trump Justice Department is preemptively trying to block results from being finalized if Sullivan narrowly loses. Maine's ranked-choice voting could lengthen the vote tallying if neither Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) nor Democratic nominee Troy Jackson gets more than 50% in the first round. Kansas' three-day grace period for mail-in ballots could delay results in the race between Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.). It is far closer than expected. In Texas, a dragged-out recount could be coming. A candidate can request one if the margin is less than 10% of the winner's vote total — which is likely to happen between state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and state Rep. James Talarico (D). The candidate who requests it has to pay. The clock: Congress currently plans to leave for the holidays on Dec. 18. But if Republicans lose both the House and Senate , Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) wants senators to stay in town through the holidays (yes, Thanksgiving and Christmas) to work on a massive GOP reconciliation package they can pass without Democratic support. The big picture: Congress has a long to-do list either way, including funding the government past Dec. 11, passing emergency
With just nine days until the midterms, the Trump administration is escalating its assault on two of the Department of Justice's most sacred guardrails: Independence from the White House. Restraint before elections. Why it matters: President Trump's DOJ has shattered the traditional calm of a pre-election period with a barrage of politically sensitive investigations, prosecutions and eleventh-hour efforts to influence the vote. Zoom in: The Justice Department's most aggressive election intervention yet came this week in Alaska, where a preemptive lawsuit seeks to delay certification of the state's U.S. Senate results — if the Democrat wins. The DOJ argues that a second candidate, Dan J. Sullivan Jr., could confuse voters and siphon support from the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The administration wants certification halted if Sen. Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola but could have won with votes cast for the other Sullivan, pending an investigation into voter intent. Between the lines: Alaska's Supreme Court already ruled that the second Sullivan belongs on the ballot, and the state's ranked-choice system allows voters to rank both candidates. Legal experts question the DOJ's authority to block certification of a state-run election, or how officials could determine voters' intentions without compromising ballot secrecy. Peltola's campaign and national Democrats have moved to intervene in the lawsuit, challenging the administration's preemptive attempt to halt certification. Zoom out: Alaska is just one front in an October offensive aimed at rooting out alleged election fraud, investigating prominent Democrats and relitigating Trump's oldest political grievances. On Oct. 7, Trump established a White House committee to investigate alleged mortgage fraud by Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook , authorizing DOJ personnel to participate in proceedings that could lead to her removal. Cook denies wrongdoing. On Oct. 12, federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan O
The Trump administration sued Alaska on Thursday to delay certification of election results if incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. Why it matters: The race between incumbent Sullivan, Democrat Mary Peltola , and retired teacher Dan Sullivan has been marked by controversy, with Republicans accusing Democrats of trying to confuse voters by planting a candidate with the same name. Alaska's use of ranked-choice voting, which eliminates candidates in rounds if no one gets 50% of the initial vote, complicates matters. "An election result may be impacted by voter confusion if: (1) Senator Sullivan does not win the election; and (2) had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan been cast instead for Senator Sullivan and Alaska's rank-choice process played out accordingly, Senator Sullivan would have won the election," the lawsuit , filed in Alaska District Court, states. Zoom in: Because of a previous Alaska Supreme Court decision and Sullivan's name already being on the ballot, the administration contended in the lawsuit that the only means to ensure that the winner of the race is voters' choice "is to ensure that the certification is not impacted" by his candidacy. The lawsuit requests a delay in certification until after an investigation determines "whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan." What they're saying: "Alaska's Division of Elections determined that Mr. Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy was intended to mislead voters and compromise the fairness of the ballot," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. "Therefore, the Justice Department, consistent with the National Voter Registration Act enacted by Congress, is taking the necessary steps to ensure that this frivolous candidacy does not undermine the integrity of Alaska's election or the will of its voters." The White House referred Axios to the DOJ. President Trump told reporters Friday that he told the DOJ to file the suit against Alaska. He then explained the situa
