Judge Dismisses Trump Administration Suit Over Alaska Senate Race
Seven Lights
A federal judge in Alaska dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit on Sunday seeking to block the state from certifying its Senate race if votes for a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent could have changed the outcome.
Judge Sharon Gleason, of the US District Court in Anchorage, issued the order a day before voters go to the polls. The Justice Department sued last week, arguing that a lookalike candidate on the ballot may have confused voters and siphoned support from Senator Dan Sullivan, who is facing Democrat Mary Peltola. The contest could decide control of the Senate. The department said it planned to appeal, with a spokesperson saying: “Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes.”
The suit followed a New York Times investigation reporting that aides to Ms Peltola’s campaign had recruited another man sharing Mr Sullivan’s name to join the race in a bid to peel votes away from the Republican incumbent. Ms Peltola has denied any knowledge of such a scheme, telling a reporter at a campaign event that she had “no idea” whether any of her aides were involved. Republicans, including Mr Trump, have called for her to be disqualified and criminally prosecuted.
The ruling is the latest setback to the administration’s attempts to assert a federal role in elections run by the states. The Alaska Supreme Court last week rejected a similar request from the department, and a separate wave of grand jury subpoenas served to state and local election officials over ballot certification has drawn legal challenges of its own.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, avoided a direct answer on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked whether the Trump administration could refuse to seat Ms Peltola if she wins.
The lawsuit had sought to require officials to tally votes in a manner that would allow the race’s result to be challenged. State officials said no evidence of voter confusion had been produced.
Alaskans vote on Tuesday. With the Senate margin likely to be narrow, the contest between Ms Peltola and Mr Sullivan remains one of the few races that could determine which party holds the chamber.