Votes for Decoy Dan will count even while a criminal investigation is ongoing
By SUZANNE DOWNING
Nov. 1, 2026 – An Obama-appointed federal judge has dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to halt certification of Alaska’s Senate election over alleged confusion between Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Petersburg challenger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. (Decoy Dan), leaving existing voting and counting procedures in place two days before Election Day.
The Justice Department immediately filed notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
US District Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that the federal government lacked standing because it had not demonstrated that the court could provide a workable remedy while preserving ballot secrecy. Her decision did not resolve whether the alleged effort to recruit a similarly named candidate violated criminal law.
The practical consequence: The candidate Republicans call “Decoy Dan” remains on the ballot, and votes marked for him remain subject to ordinary election rules.
The Alaska Story has heard several accounts from voters who said they accidentally marked the Petersburg candidate’s name when they intended to vote for the incumbent senator. Those voters recounted how they noticed the mistake before turning in their ballots and they requested replacements, surrendering the incorrectly marked ballots as spoiled ballots.
Those accounts describe confusion many have experienced looking at the Senate ballot selections.
The Justice Department sought to prevent certification if the incumbent lost and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome. It also requested separation of relevant ballots pending an investigation into voter intent.
Gleason found that ballots already cast had been mixed together and could no longer be connected to individual voters. For Election Day ballots, she said DOJ had supplied no method for investigating voters’ intentions while protecting secrecy.
The government had failed to establish the “redressability prerequisite for Article III standing,” she wrote.
Gleason also cited the principle that federal courts should generally avoid changing election procedures immediately before an election.
‘Bring a gun to a gunfight’: Alaska Democratic Party chair Eric Croft laughs off ‘Decoy Dan’ controversy on CNN
Alaska’s Department of Law opposed the federal lawsuit on behalf of state election officials. The state argued that officials could not determine from ballot markings alone whether someone deliberately chose the Petersburg candidate or confused him with the senator.
The Division of Elections maintains that the ballot distinguishes the candidates: The senator appears as Dan S. Sullivan, with Republican and incumbent identifiers, while the challenger appears as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., without a party affiliation.
The dismissal comes amid a separate federal criminal investigation into the alleged recruitment operation. The Associated Press reported that investigators issued additional grand jury subpoenas Thursday and contacted donors to the Petersburg candidate.
The New York Times investigation described an effort by Democratic operatives to recruit candidates who could draw support away from the incumbent.
Sunday’s ruling dismisses the civil action in district court. The separate criminal investigation continues.
5 thoughts on “Obama-appointed Judge Sharon Gleason dismisses DOJ’s ‘Decoy Dan’ election lawsuit; federal government appeals”
Sharon Gleason, a tool of the radical Democrats. An activist judge of the most radical order. Unelected Democrat rule from the bench.
I for one am sick to death of the many robed activists and insurrectionists who have been facilitating the rolling coup d’etat against the current administration, and against freedom and liberty themselves, under the guise of being “judges”.
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The perfectly partisan and corrupt judicial system in this state, owned lock stock and barrel by the radical left Alaska Judicial Council, is just one example of the nationwide rot on the bench.
You and Julia think anything that a conservative does is god’s word while you think it’s impossible for a Democrat to be right. Such extremism blinkers you. It renders your claims worthless, despite evidence that you have mental capacity. In this case, the DOJ lawsuit borders on frivolous. It’s obvious to anyone that it could not and should not succeed.
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Similar to the Haley Stevens situation in Michigan Senator Dan Sullivan says he is voting for Mary Peltola in Alaska and urges all his supporters to do the same. Yes, I’m joking.