By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 23, 2026 – The Department of Justice filed suit Thursday against Alaska and its election officials, seeking to delay certification of the Senate election if incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses and votes for another Sullivan could have changed the outcome.
The Oct. 22 complaint targets the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired Petersburg teacher whom is widely known now as “Decoy Dan.” Federal attorneys allege his candidacy is intended to confuse voters and benefit Democrat Mary Peltola.
The requested intervention is conditional: If the senator loses but would have won had the other Sullivan’s votes gone to him, DOJ wants certification held pending an investigation into voter intent. The lawsuit itself does not stop certification; that would require a court order.
The defendants include the State of Alaska, Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher, the state’s election boards and its ballot counting review board. The case is before US District Judge Sharon Gleason, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.
The federal action follows months of litigation, campaign-finance complaints and Republican accusations that the Petersburg candidate is a spoiler.
Alaska election officials initially removed him from the primary ballot in June, concluding his candidacy was intended to confuse or mislead voters. S
uperior Court Judge Thomas Matthews reversed that decision, finding no constitutional, statutory or regulatory basis for imposing the division’s “good faith” requirement. The Alaska Supreme Court upheld his return to the ballot. The ballot-access ruling addressed the state’s authority to exclude him; it did not establish that illegal coordination occurred.
Both Sullivans subsequently advanced through the August primary. The incumbent received 68,726 votes, compared with 4,107 for the Petersburg challenger.
Election officials have distinguished the candidates on the general-election ballot. The senator is identified as a registered Republican and incumbent, while the challenger appears without a party affiliation, although he is registered Republican.
The controversy also involves Anchorage Democrat political consultant Amber Lee, who helped launch the challenger’s campaign and serves on the board of the Democratic-aligned 907 Initiative, which opposes Sen. Sullivan.
Americans for Public Trust filed a Federal Election Commission complaint in September alleging coordination between the candidate and the organization. The 907 Initiative had spent more than $1 million on advertising and information campaigns targeting the incumbent senator.
Lee and the organization denied violating campaign-finance law. Lee said her board position was unpaid and that she did not manage the organization’s independent expenditures. Decoy Dan has maintained that running was his own idea.
‘Decoy Dan’ scam exposes much wider network of political operatives and ‘nonprofit’ money in Alaska
President Donald Trump escalated the dispute Wednesday, calling the namesake candidacy a scam and announcing that his administration was examining legal options. The federal lawsuit followed the next day.
DOJ’s legal argument relies on the National Voter Registration Act’s stated purpose of protecting election integrity, together with the attorney general’s authority to enforce that law.
Ranked-choice voting adds another complication. A ballot initially counted for the Petersburg Sullivan could transfer to the incumbent if the challenger is eliminated and the voter ranked the senator as the next available choice.
DOJ nevertheless argues that confused voters might omit the senator from their rankings entirely or rank the candidates in a way that benefits Peltola. For many voters in Alaska, both Sullivans appear next to each other on their ballots, adding to the confusion.
With voting already underway, the dispute has moved beyond who may appear on the ballot to whether alleged confusion could justify delaying certification after the votes are counted.
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4 thoughts on “Breaking: DOJ sues Alaska over ‘Decoy Dan,’ seeks certification delay if voter confusion tips Senate race”
Literally saying the election is rigged if the Republican candidate loses!
Judge Thomas Mathews is a f*cking idiot judge for the left. And a blockhead Democrat. That’s the problem. A cheating judge with no conscience, and certainly very little intelligence.
I find it stunning anyone would be confused. It says (incumbent) next to our senator’s name. If someone is so clueless to not see that and vote accordingly then maybe they should not be voting. Just bizarre. I have far more issue with rigged choice voting.
Elizabeth, are you kidding? About a third of Alaska’s registered voters don’t pay any attention to these campaigns. There will be confusion on election day. Guaranteed. If the roles were reversed and Republicans found another Democrat named Mary Peltola, or another Democrat named Nick Begich, the Democrat Party would sue in an instant and the media would keep it on page 1 until election day. Wake up!!!