U.S. elections in Alaska lead to "Sullivan's War"; Trump administration files suit to block certification of election results

In the countdown to the U.S. midterm elections, in the Alaska election that may affect control of the U.S. Senate, a candidate has the same name as Republican incumbent Sullivan. The Trump administration believes that it may cause confusion among voters. At the direction of President Trump, the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to prevent the state from certifying the election results even if the congressman lost the election by a narrow margin.

Reuters and the New York Times reported that in the state’s Senate election, the current Republican congressman Dann. Dan S. Sullivan is locked in a tight race with Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, but Sullivan also faces another challenge: Republican Dan S. Sullivan. Dan J. Sullivan Jr. They have the same name and surname, only their middle names are different.

For this reason, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Anchorage on the 22nd, arguing that Sullivan's candidacy was "intended to mislead Congressman Sullivan's supporters to vote for him." Even though most Alaskans originally wanted to vote for the current congressman, his candidacy was "really likely" to lead to Pertola's victory. Trump said on the 23rd that he supported filing a lawsuit, "I said I was going to do it."

The Justice Department asked a judge to stop the state and election officials from certifying "election results that may have been affected by voter confusion" to investigate whether voters voted for the wrong person because they had the same name. The complaint alleges that there was voter confusion if Congressman Sullivan had not won the election and that Congressman Sullivan would have won had he assumed that all votes cast for Sullivan Jr. had been cast for him and were recalculated according to the state's ranked-choice voting system.

The Republican Party alleges that Sullivan Jr. was arranged to run by the Democratic Party in order to divide votes in this sparsely populated state where a small margin may determine the outcome. He has only recently registered as a Republican and has admitted to running with the help of a Democratic strategist. In the past, he has donated to Democratic candidates, including Pertola.

According to information on the official campaign website of Sullivan Jr., he was a former U.S. Forest Service employee and elementary school teacher. He had never held an elected public office. He registered to run on May 29 and advocated "Alaska First." The campaign website directly stated, "Dan Sullivan challenges Dan Sullivan for the U.S. Senate seat."

He denied that his candidacy was intended to cause confusion or divide votes. The Alaska Supreme Court also allowed him to run in June. His party membership was not marked on the ballot. The other Sullivan was listed as a Republican and the incumbent.