President Donald Trump has declared Republican Senator Dan Sullivan the winner of Alaska’s fiercely contested Senate race, even though roughly a quarter of the ballots have yet to be counted and no official winner has been announced.
“The Alaska Race is OVER. Dan Sullivan WON, BY A LOT!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Election officials and major news organizations have not called the contest.
The battle for Alaska’s Senate seat has drawn national and international attention after Democrats were accused of recruiting a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent. Critics claim the move was designed to confuse voters and benefit Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.
With approximately 74 percent of the ballots counted, Peltola held a narrow lead of 637 votes over the Trump-endorsed incumbent as of Saturday afternoon. The final result may not be known until late November.
The second Dan Sullivan on the ballot has received about 3,500 votes, making his candidacy a potentially decisive factor in the race.
Trump’s post came roughly 30 minutes after Peltola shared a video on X addressing voters. She said she hoped Alaskans were enjoying a break from “attack ads and political mailers.”
“We are being patient waiting for more ballots to come in,” Peltola said. “In Alaska, it just takes a little bit longer as we wait for all of the ballots to come in.”
President Trump declared Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan the winner of Alaska’s Senate race, despite only about 74 percent of ballots having been counted and no official call being made
The Associated Press currently shows Mary Peltola with a narrow lead over her Republican opponent, with about 25 percent of the vote still outstanding
As many as 70,000 ballots remain to be processed, leaving both campaigns focused on persuading supporters that the outstanding votes will ultimately favor their candidate.
Peltola wrote on X Thursday that “tens of thousands of early votes and absentee ballots are still outstanding,” adding that available data suggested those ballots would “break for Mary and extend her lead.”
Sullivan, meanwhile, said in a statement posted to his campaign website that he expected to prevail once Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system was applied.
Under Alaska’s election rules, a candidate who receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes wins immediately. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated.
Ballots that listed the eliminated candidate first are then redistributed according to the voter’s next-ranked choice, and the process continues until one candidate secures a majority.
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The outcome may not be clear until the end of the month, leaving Alaskans waiting to learn who will represent them in the Senate.
The largest batch of remaining ballots is scheduled to arrive Tuesday, November 10.
Trump’s declaration came after he had previously said he would accept the results of the midterm elections
Alaska’s midterm ballot lists two candidates named Dan Sullivan
That would be the earliest point at which a winner could be determined—provided either Peltola or Sullivan reaches 50 percent of the vote.
Alaska’s deadline for completing the count of absentee, mail-in and provisional ballots is November 18.
The Alaska Division of Elections is not scheduled to certify the final results until November 25.
At the same time, an accelerated FBI investigation into the alleged “decoy” candidate scheme could add another layer of uncertainty to the already dramatic Senate contest.
Two sources familiar with the inquiry told the Daily Mail that investigators questioned Peltola’s former campaign manager on Election Day.
The sources said FBI agents approached Elisa Rios in Chicago on Tuesday.
“Full speed ahead,” one source said of the investigation.
Rios has been accused of helping recruit the second Dan Sullivan in an alleged effort to confuse voters and draw support away from the Republican incumbent.
Peltola has denied any connection to the alleged operation.
This is a developing story…
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