President Donald Trump on Thursday called for votes cast for two other candidates in Alaska’s unresolved U.S. Senate race to be reassigned to incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, a proposal that legal experts say has no basis under state election law.
Trump’s Truth Social post claimed votes for the other candidates should be "immediately given" to Sullivan, asserting there was "no other fair solution." The president described one candidate as the "Fake Dan Sullivan" and another as a "slug" placed on the ballot by Democrats. As of Thursday, unofficial results showed Democrat Mary Peltola leading Sullivan by 637 votes, with third-party candidates Gerald Heikes and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. holding 4,846 and 3,600 votes respectively.
Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system requires votes to be tabulated according to specific procedures, which do not allow for the reassignment of votes to a single candidate regardless of voter intent. The Department of Justice previously raised concerns about voter confusion stemming from the presence of multiple candidates with similar names on the ballot.
Senator Sullivan’s response to the controversy has centered on allegations of a Democratic scheme to mislead voters. In a statement last week, Sullivan referenced a New York Times report that claimed Democrats recruited Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to confuse voters. He stated, "The Democrats have been scheming for a year and a half," and accused the campaign of Mary Peltola of involvement in the effort. Sullivan added that he believed the tactic reflected desperation due to his stronger record and vision for Alaska.
Legal and procedural context
Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system eliminates the lowest-performing candidate in successive rounds until a candidate achieves a majority. Votes for eliminated candidates are redistributed based on voters’ ranked preferences. Legal experts, including University of Washington law professor Jeff Feldman, have emphasized that Alaska law does not permit the reassignment of votes from one candidate to another outside of this process. Feldman stated that the state’s election law is "crystal clear" on the proper procedure for tabulating votes.
The Department of Justice previously argued in a filing that the presence of multiple candidates named Sullivan threatened to mislead voters who intended to support Senator Sullivan. The DOJ urged election authorities not to certify a result that could be affected by voter confusion.
Ongoing vote counting
As of Thursday, Peltola held a narrow lead with 48.2% of the vote (102,962 votes), compared to Sullivan’s 47.9% (102,325 votes). The remaining votes were distributed among third-party candidates. The race remains unresolved as officials continue to process ballots under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting method.
Statements from campaigns
Neither the White House, the campaigns of Dan Sullivan, Mary Peltola, Gerald Heikes, nor Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. have publicly responded to requests for comment on Trump’s proposal or the ongoing vote count.