The Trump administration has moved to put Alaska’s Senate certification on hold if the Republican incumbent loses by a margin that could be attributed to votes cast for another candidate with the same name — an extraordinary intervention in a race that may shape Senate control.

The Justice Department argues that Daniel J. Sullivan’s place on the ballot could mislead voters seeking to support Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent. Its lawsuit asks a federal judge to bar certification if the incumbent’s losing margin is smaller than the vote total received by the other Sullivan, pending an investigation into whether voters confused the two names.¹

President Donald Trump publicly embraced the case, telling reporters: “I’m the one that said do it.”² The administration contends that the second Sullivan’s candidacy was intended to aid Democratic nominee Mary Peltola by drawing support from the incumbent. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. argued that confusion could mean certification reflects “an electoral process that lacked integrity.”¹

That account is contested by Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher running as a Republican. He has denied coordinating with Peltola’s campaign, saying he “wouldn’t even know who to speak to” there. He has also argued that voter choice should be preserved: “It is my sincere hope that people know who and what they are voting for but ultimately, choice is good.”¹

The dispute is sharpened by Alaska’s ranked-choice system, which lets voters rank candidates and can transfer votes as lower-performing contenders are eliminated. The incumbent will be identified on the ballot as the “(Registered Republican) Incumbent,” while the Alaska Supreme Court has already rejected efforts to remove the other Sullivan from the ballot.²

Voting-rights experts cited in reporting described the legal basis as thin, noting that reliably determining a voter’s intended choice after an election would be exceptionally difficult. The administration, by contrast, says an inquiry is needed before a potentially close result is made final.²