President Donald Trump, who said on election night that he would accept the results, two days later declared incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan should be given all of the votes that were cast for retired Petersburg teacher Dan J. Sullivan and immediately declared the winner of the Senate race in Alaska.
“The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other ‘slug’ that the Dems put on the ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the election is over — he easily wins. There is no other fair solution!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social message.
Alaska is still tallying votes sent by mail or otherwise legally cast by Election Day, which can arrive within 10 days after then for U.S.-sent ballots and 15 days for overseas ballots. The Associated Press estimated on Nov. 4 that about one-fourth of all ballots cast remained to be counted.
If, after all of the ballots are counted, no candidate receives at least 50% plus one, Alaska’s ranked-choice elections system would kick in to determine the winner. Ranked choice tabulation of ballots is scheduled for Nov. 18.
Democrat Mary Peltola led the race by 637 votes out of more than 215,000 ballots counted as of Nov. 4. She had 48.2%, followed by Dan S. Sullivan at 47.9%, Republican Gerald Heikes at 2.3% and Petersburg’s Dan J. Sullivan at 1.7%, according to results from the Alaska Division of Elections.
There are a number of unknowns that could affect the outcome either way between Peltola and Dan S. Sullivan.
The remaining votes to be counted are largely from rural districts expected to be favorable to Peltola. But an analysis published by the Alaska Beacon on Nov. 4 noted that Dan S. Sullivan would gain more votes than Peltola if a ranked-choice tabulation of ballots occurred, due to votes he would receive from Alaskans who ranked Republican Heikes as their first choice and the incumbent Republican Sullivan as their second choice.
Filings are also continuing in a Trump-ordered lawsuit seeking to halt certification of the race if Peltola narrowly wins. A federal judge in Anchorage dismissed the lawsuit without a hearing before Election Day, with the U.S. Department of Justice now appealing the ruling.
The department’s opening brief to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is due Dec. 14 and answering briefs are due Jan. 11, 2027 — well after newly elected Senate members are sworn in Jan. 3. Some Republican U.S. senators have suggested they will refuse to seat Peltola if she wins.
The lawsuit, plus criminal investigations sought by Trump and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, are based on allegations that Peltola’s campaign recruited Dan J. Sullivan and other spoiler candidates to confuse voters. The accusations have been denied by Peltola and others targeted, and legal experts have stated such tactics, known as ballot stacking, are common and generally legal.
