Trump files unconstitutional lawsuit to ban Mary Peltola from reaching U.S. Senate
President Donald Trump is already trying to use the federal courts to meddle with the U.S. Senate election in Alaska.
The unconstitutional lawsuit he had his attorney general file Thursday has no merit, but it will impact the ability of Alaskans to hold a free and fair election.
This is a constitutional crisis for Alaska.
Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich the Third, if they have any integrity, should be denouncing this lawsuit today. The same holds true for Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the acting attorney general.
This is one of the most extreme example of federal overreach in Alaska history.
Trump claims that the decision of Elections Director Carol Beecher to keep Petersburg Dan J. Sullivan off the ballot should take precedence over the decision of the Alaska Supreme Court that Sullivan has the right to run for office.
Trump claims that if Peltola wins the election, she should be denied a seat in the U.S. Senate because Dan J. Sullivan is on the ballot.
The lawsuit claims the purpose of the legal attack on Alaska is to “protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska.”
“As a result of Daniel J. Sullivan’s inclusion on the November ballot, the ballot will appear confusing to voters looking to vote for Senator Sullivan, as demonstrated by a sample ballot,” the attorney general claims.
Trump’s lawyers claim that some Alaska voters will be fooled by a ballot that lists two Sullivans, one of them identifed as “Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent,” and one identified as “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.”
“Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot threatens to mislead Alaskan citizens who want to vote for Senator Sullivan. For example, some supporters of Senator Sullivan likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan,” they claim.
They said “there is a realistic chance that, even if a majority of Alaskans wish to vote for Senator Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot will result in a victory for Peltola.”
Trump’s corrupt Department of Justice also puts forward this charge: “An election result may be impacted by voter confusion if: (1) Senator Sullivan does not win the election; and (2) had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan been cast instead for Senator Sullivan and Alaska’s rank-choice process played out accordingly, Senator Sullivan would have won the election.”
Trump wants to ban Peltola from winning or “certifying any result that may be impacted by voter confusion, as defined above, pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.”
The complaint is signed by Stanley E. Woodward, an associate attorney general in Washington, D.C. and E. Bryan Wilson, an assistant U.S. attorney in Anchorage.
The only document submitted as evidence with this shabby case is the June 15 letter from Elections Director Carol Beecher claiming Petersburg Dan Sullivan did not belong on the ballot.
Honest attorneys would have included the Alaska Superior court decision and the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Beecher. But that’s not who we are dealing with under Trump.
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