President Donald Trump said Friday that he directed the Justice Department to file a preemptive lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s closely watched Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is defeated, arguing that similarities between the candidates’ names could have confused voters.
Republicans have accused Dan J. Sullivan of running a sham campaign designed to divert votes from the incumbent, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, whose names are nearly identical.
Asked Friday about the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department on Thursday, Trump said he had supported taking that step. “Well, I’m one that said, ‘Do it,’” he said.
“They have two guys run named Dan Sullivan running. So the Democrats put up a guy never — I don’t think he ever voted before,” Trump said of Dan J. Sullivan. The candidate appears on the ballot without a party affiliation and told The New York Times that he has voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past.
“All of a sudden he decides to run for the Senate, and his name is Dan Sullivan. One is Daniel S., one is Daniel J. The Daniel J. is the fake,” Trump said.
“Should Alaska certify any electoral results tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan … the State and its officers will fail in its obligation to protect the integrity of its election,” Stanley Woodward, the Justice Department’s No. 3 official, wrote in Thursday’s filing.
The Alaska Supreme Court previously rejected a legal challenge to Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy and ordered that his name remain on the ballot.
“To guard against this danger, it is vital that Defendants not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion,” Woodward wrote. He said that could apply if Sen. Sullivan loses and would have won under Alaska’s ranked-choice system if every vote for Daniel J. Sullivan had instead gone to the incumbent.
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A Justice Department spokesperson said Alaska’s Division of Elections determined that Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy was intended to mislead voters and compromise the fairness of the ballot. The department said it was acting under the National Voter Registration Act to prevent what it called a frivolous candidacy from affecting the election’s integrity or the will of Alaska voters.
A spokesperson for Sen. Sullivan said the campaign would allow the DOJ complaint to proceed, adding that “Alaskans can tell the difference between a Democrat sideshow and Senator Sullivan's strong record of delivering for Alaska.” Peltola’s campaign described the lawsuit as “a despicable political threat to overturn an election.”
The Alaska secretary of state’s office and a spokesperson for Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media that he was considering “powerful legal options” to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot.
Earlier in the summer, Alaska’s election office said Dan J. Sullivan would be removed from the ballot after determining that his candidacy was not being conducted in good faith. An official said it was intended “to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality.”
Dan J. Sullivan sued over the decision, and a state judge ruled that he was eligible to appear on Alaska’s Senate primary ballot. The Alaska Supreme Court upheld that ruling, after which the Justice Department opened an investigation.
Hours before the lawsuit was filed, Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked whether the Justice Department might intervene in a state election. He did not rule out the possibility but said such action would require a “doomsday scenario.”
ABC News' Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.
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